Telemedicine in haemodialysis: a university department and two remote satellites linked together as one common workplace
A common workplace was established between the renal unit at the University Hospital of North Norway and two satellite dialysis centres, in Alta and Hammerfest. A 2 Mbit/s ATM network was employed for IP-based videoconferencing. A common electronic medical record system and dialysis monitoring softw...
| Published in: | Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publications
2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1258/1357633054471885 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1258/1357633054471885 |
| Summary: | A common workplace was established between the renal unit at the University Hospital of North Norway and two satellite dialysis centres, in Alta and Hammerfest. A 2 Mbit/s ATM network was employed for IP-based videoconferencing. A common electronic medical record system and dialysis monitoring software were used. During an eight-month study period, nine patients were enrolled and 225 videoconferences were performed for daily visits and regular rounds. A bandwidth of 768 kbit/s was required for satisfactory teledialysis. Although technical (28%) and logistical problems (10%) were frequent, five hospitalizations and one-third of the planned visiting rounds were avoided. An economic analysis showed that annual savings amounted to US$46,613, while annual costs were US$79,489. Despite the technical difficulties in about 30% of conferences, the nurses were satisfied with the videoconferencing system. Digital X-rays were communicated without problems. The pilot study indicates that satellite units may be incorporated into the daily management at the central institution by telemedicine. |
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