Bramanti A, Bonanno L, Celona A, Bertuccio S, Calisto A, Lanzafame P, Bramanti P
IRCCS - Centro Neurolesi "Bonino Pulejo", 98124 Messina, Italy.
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2010;2010:2204-7. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2010.5627147.
Telemedicine is an integrated, biomedical and psychosocial, secondary prevention intervention, where a specialized team guides the patient and his family in the course of the disease by reducing the stress of caregivers and allowing patients to stay longer at home, reducing, consequently, costs related to go to the specialist clinic. Teleneurology is a part of Telemedicine which uses modern communication technologies to allow neurology to be practiced when the doctor and patient are not present in the same place, and possibly not at the same time. This study focuses on identifying regional spots as potential territorial stations for the telemedicine service through the GIS (Geographical Information System), a computerized systems that allows placement of data of different types and sources into one system to manage and form spatial relationships that allow the display and analysis of relationships of geographic, environmental, and population factors (Scholten & de Lepper, 1991). We analyzed the optimal location of territorial telemedicine spots in correspondence of general practitioner clinics. It could be intended as a way to involve general practitioners in the management of those patients. The aim of this study is to improve the quality of life of patients and their caregivers providing a continuity of care through this system that reduces the inconvenience of travel and related costs. We estimated, then, the reduction of costs for patients and care-givers joining the telemedicine service in terms of hours out of work.
远程医疗是一种综合的生物医学和社会心理二级预防干预措施，由一个专业团队在疾病过程中指导患者及其家属，减轻护理人员的压力，使患者能够在家中停留更长时间，从而降低前往专科诊所的相关费用。远程神经学是远程医疗的一部分，它利用现代通信技术，在医生和患者不在同一地点且可能不同时在场的情况下开展神经学诊疗。本研究的重点是通过地理信息系统（GIS）确定作为远程医疗服务潜在区域站点的区域地点，地理信息系统是一种计算机化系统，可将不同类型和来源的数据放置在一个系统中进行管理，并形成空间关系，以便显示和分析地理、环境和人口因素之间的关系（斯科尔滕和德·莱珀，1991年）。我们分析了与全科医生诊所相对应的区域远程医疗站点的最佳位置。这可以被视为让全科医生参与这些患者管理的一种方式。本研究的目的是通过该系统提供持续护理，减少出行不便和相关费用，从而提高患者及其护理人员的生活质量。然后，我们根据患者和护理人员因加入远程医疗服务而损失的工作时间估算了成本的降低情况。
