Telecardiology services in the Aegean islands.

Telecardiology services established between the Onassion Cardiac Surgery Centre in Athens and the Primary Health Care Centre (HCC) of Naxos in the Aegean provide 24 h support. During the testing period more than 50 cases were analysed, diagnosed and treated in Naxos HCC, under the supervision of the on-call cardiologists of the Onassion Cardiac Surgery Centre. One patient with an acute myocardial infarction was evacuated to a tertiary hospital in Athens. The services are modelled in a way that they could be applied to five more HCCs in the Aegean. Emphasis is being put on the customization of the electronic medical records for facilitating the work of the primary-care physicians to cope with cardiology emergencies and long-term follow-up of cardiac patients.