High-definition video with specialists in Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano used to carry out remote specialised consultations
Telecom and networking equipment manufacturer Cisco has said that the hospitals in Talcahuano (Las Higueras), San Carlosand Linares have inaugurated its TelePresence units.
The company said that high-definition video technology included in the telepresence units allows the staff to interact with their patients via tele-consultations, examinations and interviews.
The TelePresence technology also helps them find solutions for cardiovascular pathologies, the main public health problem facing Chilean society, said Cisco.
The Cisco TelePresence ofering is a pilot project that forms part of and complements the Galileo Telemedical Program, developed in the Hemodynamic and Electrophysiology Unit of Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano as a solution for illnesses that produce long waiting lists and high mortality rates in Chile, said the company.
The technology enables the hospitals in Linares (Region VII) and San Carlos (Region VIII) to connect via high-definition video with specialists in Las Higueras Hospital in Talcahuano and carry out remote specialised consultations.
Cisco climed that the time taken for a specialist’s first response has been significantly reduced — from 12 months to 54 hours, as well as the time taken to resolve the problem that gave rise to the initial consultation (from as long as two years down to one month).
The tool is a contribution made by Telefónica Empresas based on Cisco´s technology, in collaboration with the Talcahuano Health Services and Las Higueras Hospital.
Telefónica Empresas general manager Pedro Pablo Laso said the telemedicine project in Talcahuano is in line with the corporate e-health program whose objective is to make high-end technologies available for the benefit of every Chilean.
Pablo Laso added, "Health is one of the great concerns, and this service will shorten waiting times, facilitate opportune diagnosis, and keep illnesses from getting worse. At Movistar we are very happy since, as strategic partners with the country and the government, we believe we are fulfilling the promise we made to our clients, that of making high-end technologies available wherever they are needed."
The technolgy works through the Chilean Ministry of Health’s communication network (administered by Movistar), and it includes three Cisco TelePresence System 1300 Series units, said Cisco.
Cisco Latin America Internet Business Solutions Group managing director Gustavo Menéndez said, "The use of teleprocesses, and of Cisco TelePresence in particular, brings about more equitable and more effective access to health care for citizens, especially the underprivileged, which has signified a change in the traditional paradigm of health care management."
