Telemedicine in developing countries, optimizing health care resources by telehealth platforms, an example from Latin-America

An e-health model to the provision of health services is introduced in underserved rural regions in Colombia and Brazil in the European Latin-American telemedicine demonstration project T@lemed. The implementation of this model is supported on current telehealth technologies of Fraunhofer and its partners as well as on evidence based medicine. The target clinical applications include typical infectious diseases for the region such as malaria, and general ultrasound applications such as pregnancy control, urology and cardiovascular diagnosis. The implemented telehealth networks connect high-level health care resources available in large cities with low-level health care facilities in underserved regions. The trial of this model, reflected in the deployment and pilot tests of the telehealth platforms TOPCARE and TeleConsult, demonstrates local health authorities the benefits of information technologies for health provision and social development. As a result, it is expected that this model will be incorporated into health services of both government health authorities and private health providers.