Telehealth Improves Access to Medical Resources for Diabetics
15.12.2020
Approximately 463 million adults (aged 20 ~ 79 years) worldwide are living with diabetes. In Taiwan, about 10% of the population has diabetes. Although keeping diabetes under control is important at any age, there is a high prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in patients over the age of 40, affecting about one-third. Accordingly, people with diabetes must have regular eye examinations by an ophthalmologist or optometrist specializing in diabetes-related eye health.
Challenges of Diabetics Patient lives in Rural Area
To address this issue, one of Taipei’s public health centers adopted Advantech’s AMiS-72 telehealth cart solution, which includes a digital diagnostics set, video capture software, a HD pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera, and high-quality speakers. Images captured by the integrated digital ophthalmoscope can be shared and annotated via the video conferencing platform, which supports group video calls.
For doctors, the AMiS-72 cart can be used to communicate with patients in real
time, conduct remote physical examinations by controlling the PTZ camera, share
videos and images via the screen sharing function, and review laboratory test
results, CT scans, and EHR data.
Benefits of Deploy Telehealth Solution
The implementation of the telehealth solution has dramatically improved access to diabetes-related healthcare in rural areas of Taipei and New Taipei City. Although there are mobile ophthalmology vehicles that travel to local villages every two months, this is insufficient to deal with current demands. A lack of medical resources and lengthy travel times can cause treatment delays and result in additional medical expenses. But with Advantech’s telehealth solution enabling the realization of telehealth services, patient travel times are reduced to under one hour, improving the accessibility of medical resources. Now, elderly patients not only have easier access to medical care, but doctors can also extend the range of healthcare services they provide. Furthermore, because of the success of this project, other public health centers in rural areas are keen to also deploy Advantech’s AMiS-72 telehealth cart solution.
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