TeIMPLEMENTING REMOTE PATHOLOGY IN THE MEDICAL CENTERS OF WESTERN AZERBAIJAN PROVINCE: FEASIBILE REQUIREMENTS AND LEGAL STANDARDS

Telepathology is one of the medical subdivisions that is specifically has been taken into consideration in recent years. Telepathology is the practice of digitizing histology and microscopic images to be transmitted by telecommunication for diagnosis, medical advice or continuing education. It includes electronic images production to be examined in one site or another site. At the present research, we have studied the possibility of telepathology implementation considering the presence or lack of presence of requirement and legal standards in medical centers of Western Azerbaijan province. This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study which was conducted in 2013. All public and private hospitals were selected in the city of Urmia. The public sector hospitals in the other towns of West Azerbaijan province were chosen as well. The study population was included hospitals directors and administrators, pathologists, and informatics staff. The sample was considered as the study population. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire which was prepared separately for each group of the study population. Reliability was evaluated, and the data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software. As a result, the average awareness of study population was 2/43 with 0/89 standard deviation about telepathology. There was a significant difference between the average awareness of the hospitals directors and administrators, pathologists and informatics staff, about telepathology. Also the possibility of telepathology implementation by considering the presence of requirement and legal standards was 2/18 with 0/51 standard deviation. Findings show that telepathology implementation can increase the quality of health care and the speed of patient handling, and it can lead to reduce the health costs. Also according to the rule of legal issues, confidentiality of information, sense of responsibility and accountability in telehealth systems, it is necessary to provide new rules and guidelines in this area. It is recommended that hospitals should take necessary proceeding for telepathology implementing.