|
Updates from the ISfTeH Global Telemedicine & eHealth Network (April 2019)
|
|
Read in this issue about the Nursingn Now campaign, successful ISfTeH Conference and Portugal eHealth Summit in Lisbon, new WHO guideline on digital health interventions, an International Master's in Digital Health, update on Apollo Telemedicine's activities in India, a telecardiology opportunity, accreditation of mobile apps, data protection in eHealth under GDPR, survey on cybersecurity in hospitals, survey on community readiness in telemedicine, and much more. A lot of information to digest, but worth your while to update yourself on some of what is happening in the ISfTeH global network and beyond, and to find out about new partnership opportunities, events to attend, new publications, and more.
|
|
Letter from the Executive Director
Dear Reader,
We just had the 24th International Conference of the ISfTeH in Lisbon, as part of the Portugal eHealth Summit. It was great to see so many of the ISfTeH family there. I had always had my doubts about so called "talking heads" presentations - brief seven-minute presentations, interrupted only by coffee breaks and lunch time. I was very pleasantly surprised at how effective this style of session turned out to be. So many fascinating approaches and solutions being developed, to address all sorts of health challenges. And there was no need to choose, as it all happened in plenary sessions, with ample opportunity to delve deeper with the presenters during the breaks. And the frosting on the cake was the full exhibition hall downstairs, with all categories of booths, from major players to startups. It was a very enriching digital health experience.
On another subject, I recently learned about the Nursing Now campaign, a three-year program aimed at improving health, promoting gender equality and supporting economic growth, by developing nursing (see nursingnow.org/who-we-are for more information). And next year, 2020, the world will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale. The ISfTeH has always worked closely with the nursing world. In this vein, the Society has recognized that nurses:
- Are at coal face of health care;
- Constitute the largest core of health professionals in the world - estimated to be around 23 million professionals; and
- Are the health professional that most people on the planet see the most often for their health and wellness issues (some people go through their whole lives without seeing any other formally trained healthcare professional than a nurse).
The Society further acknowledges that improving health globally, through digital health needs to:
- Leverage the reach of nursing, with its organized footprint of national nursing associations in 135 countries; and
- Strengthen our partnership with nursing organizations, including joint work in the area of Telenursing, and collaboration on the ICN's eHealth strategy.
The Society, therefore, offers free membership of the ISfTeH to nurses. Our Telenursing Working Group, en
visions
nurses extending their reach through technology and improving the quality of healthcare delivery worldwide.
Its mission is to
provide a forum for exchange of knowledge and experience among nurses and others who work with, or support, nurses in digital health.
We are currently extending this collaboration with nurses to include data collection and analysis to produce business intelligence on digital health in countries around the globe.
With health going digital, we look forward to supporting the development of digital nursing, for health and care going forward.
Sincerely,
Prof. S. Yunkap Kwankam
Executive Director
International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth
|
Successful annual meeting for the ISfTeH in Lisbon
The 24th ISfTeH International Conference took place alongside the 3rd edition of the Portugal eHealth Summit in Lisbon last month. The annual ISfTeH International Conferences have been organized since the mid '90s to bring together the members of the ISfTeH as well as other contacts from its wider global network. This annual event is hosted each year by one of the ISfTeH member organizations within the frame of one of their existing national/regional events or conferences.
The ISfTeH conference featured over 70 case studies from around the world and provided participants with opportunities to find out about successful use and implementation of digital health.
The Portugal eHealth Summit, organised by the SPMS (Shared Services of the Ministry of Health), under the patronage of Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is the largest initiative for innovation, technology and health in Portugal and even one of the largest events in Europe dedicated exclusively to eHealth. The Summit featured six different stages and conference rooms where interactive panel discussions and national and international keynote presentations took place during the four days of the event. The Summit's expo area hosted a wide range of eHealth companies and service providers, as well as 50 start-ups. Main themes of the Summit included biotech and life sciences, robotics and domotics, artificial intelligence, security, privacy, telehealth, cross-border eHealth, eProcurement, eBilling, and several other thematic workshops.
In the frame of the ISfTeH Conference and the Portugal eHealth Summit, the Portuguese National Center for Telehealth (CNTS) organized a site visit to its premises and the SNS24, the telephone and online service of the Portuguese National Health Service, for a delegation of ISfTeH members and representatives of a local NHS Trust from the UK and a community nursing service from Belgium. The visit informed participants about the national strategy for telehealth, activities and operations of the SNS24 hotline (which handles over 3000 calls per day), future plans for videoconsultation in primary care, and much more.
|
|
|
ISfTeH Conference sessions in progress
|
|
|
|
|
Portugal eHealth Summit expo
|
|
|
|
|
Study visit to the SNS24
and Centro Nacional TeleSaude
|
|
|
|
|
ISfTeH members eVitalz in the
Portugal eHealth Summit startup area
|
|
The impressive numbers of this years' edition of the Portugal eHealth Summit: 15,000 participants, 25,000 accessing the livestream of the sessions, 90 exhibitors, 50 start-ups, 400 different thematic sessions, more than 200 national and international speakers.
For more information on the conference and summit:
The 4th edition of the Portugal eHealth Summit is scheduled for March 2020 in Lisbon. Watch this space for more information about ISfTeH's participation in this event as well!
|
WHO releases first guideline on digital health interventions
"Harnessing the power of digital technologies is essential for achieving universal health coverage," says WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus. "Ultimately, digital technologies are not ends in themselves; they are vital tools to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable."
Over the past two years, WHO systematically reviewed evidence on digital technologies and consulted with experts from around the world to produce recommendations on some key ways such tools may be used for maximum impact on health systems and people's health.
One digital intervention already having positive effects in some areas is sending reminders to pregnant women to attend antenatal care appointments and having children return for vaccinations. Other digital approaches reviewed include decision-support tools to guide health workers as they provide care; and enabling individuals and health workers to communicate and consult on health issues from across different locations.
The guideline demonstrates that health systems need to respond to the increased visibility and availability of information. People also must be assured that their own data is safe and that they are not being put at risk because they have accessed information on sensitive health topics, such as sexual and reproductive health issues.
Health workers need adequate training to boost their motivation to transition to this new way of working and need to use the technology easily. The guideline stresses the importance of providing supportive environments for training, dealing with unstable infrastructure, as well as policies to protect privacy of individuals, and governance and coordination to ensure these tools are not fragmented across the health system.
The guideline encourages policy-makers and implementers to review and adapt to these conditions if they want digital tools to drive tangible changes and provides guidance on taking privacy considerations on access to patient data.
"Digital health is not a silver bullet," says Bernardo Mariano, WHO's Chief Information Officer. "WHO is working to make sure it's used as effectively as possible. This means ensuring that it adds value to the health workers and individuals using these technologies, takes into account the infrastructural limitations, and that there is proper coordination."
The guideline also makes recommendations about telemedicine, which allows people living in remote locations to obtain health services by using mobile phones, web portals, or other digital tools.
The WHO guideline on digital health can be downloaded here.
|
International Master's in Digital Health in the heart of Europe
An innovative, uniquely interdisciplinary, international and multicultural study program focusing on Digital Health, taught exclusively in English with no tuition fees, offers excellent and motivated graduates of biomedical and computer science disciplines from around the world, an exclusive opportunity to immerse in a highly professional and dynamic, diverse and multicultural, hard-working and proactive Digital Health community right in the center of Europe, with unparalleled possibilities for studying, researching and networking, and excellent career prospects, - an opportunity to specialize in a field that is revolutionizing healthcare, medicine, and the entire society.
"Don't miss your unique chance to become a specialist of the future, and to join a cohort of professionals who will be shaping the world of healthcare in the decades to come," says Program Director, Prof. Dr. Georgi Chaltikyan.
The full-time, full-presence, 1.5-year long (3 semesters, to a total of 90 ECTS credits) MMI curriculum offers a perfect mix of theoretical knowledge and practical skills in modern Healthcare Information and Communication Technologies, through a balanced combination of lectures, seminars and class discussions, case studies, lab trainings, and additional activities such as participation in important digital health conferences and meetings, or field visits to healthcare facilities and digital health companies. Moreover, thanks to ECRI's international faculty and their networking with global ehealth community, MMI students also benefit from an impressive array of guest lectures, seminars and workshops by recognized thought leaders and renowned experts in the field, from different parts of the world - from Europe and North America, to South Africa and Australia.
The application period is open between April 15 and June 15, 2019.
Entry requirements
:
- Bachelor degree in any Health Science (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, healthcare administration) or Computer / Information Science discipline;
- Excellent command of English; and
- Ability to relocate to Germany in September-October 2019, and to sustain living there for the duration of the study program (a minimum of 18 months). (Several full or partial scholarships per year are usually available on a competitive basis.)
Details
on the study program and application procedure can be found here.
Short introductory
video on the study program can be viewed here.
Testimonials
by MMI/ECRI students and alumni can be reviewed here.
|
|
| Join us today, shape your tomorrow! |
|
Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation expands its activities on many fronts
Continuing its expanding phase, the Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation (ATNF), an ISfTeH institutional member, is now providing 3000+ teleconsultations a day in various states of India through public-private partnerships (PPP).
In the last few months, new telemedicine branches of ATNF have also been opened in Nepal, Bangladesh and the Maldives, besides new PPP projects in various state governments.
Prof. K. Ganapathy, Director of ATNF & ATHS (Apollo TeleHealth Services), was the only invited speaker from India at a Smart Health International Conference held at Taiwan. Mr Vikram Thaploo, CEO of ATHS, also participated as a panelist in a conference at Duke University, USA.
And ATHS recently moved into a new office in Hyderabad, with a Medical Response Centre that is the largest of its kind in India.
More information and images of these projects and initiatives can be found
here and in additional articles in this newsletter.
|
India's first solar powered telehealth wellness centre
India's first solar powered Health and Wellness Center located at Tuver village, Khedbrahma Taluk, Sabarkantha District Gujarat funded by the Business of Humanity (BoH) Unit of the University of Pittsburgh was jointly inaugurated by Prof. John Camillus, Head of BoH, Prof. K. Ganapathy, Director, Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation and B.M. Shah, Registrar Ahmedabad University and Executive Director of Narottam Lalbhai Rural Development Fund (NLRDF).
The Health and Wellness Centre set up by the Apollo Telemedicine Division has an onsite pharmacy and laboratory. Individuals from the community were trained at Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. These telehealthcare facilitators will ensure that quality remote healthcare services are provided to all those living in and around Tuver village, including specialist and super specialist teleconsultations. A tested outreach program includes health profiling of the entire community through a door to door visit. Health literacy will be promoted using 20 customized teaching modules. This project is expected ultimately to translate into a self sustaining and revenue generating model. The BoH Unit of the University of Pittsburgh expects Tuver to ultimately become a Global Centre - a model for replication in various countries.
Safe World Rural Services (SRS) headed by Subi Rajagopalan has provided solar power to around 50 homes. Solar power has been used to provide power supply (3 lights and one fan per home, with solar panels of capacity 18 kW), along with the Health & Wellness Centre (12.65 kW), 9.5 kW for 10 street lights and 6 flood lights, in addition to sanitation facilities with European bio-digestive standard to service a thousand people per day.
|
Community Service Award for the world's largest public-private partnership teleophthalmology service
The Apollo Hospitals Group comprising of 70 hospitals started an inter Apollo hospital award in 9 different categories five years ago. For the 5th consecutive year, the Telemedicine Department received the Community Services Award, this time for the world's largest teleophthalmology service in a public-private partnership mode, with 185,000 remote fundus examinations in just 12 months in 115 eye care centres in rural Andhra Pradesh in India.
This year there were 239 entries for the awards from 39 hospitals. "Wonderful to have a team of 2000+ with the same blood group 'B positive' - after all, telehealth runs in our blood. A chain is as strong as its weakest link - we have no weak link," said Prof. K. Ganapthy, director of ATNF & ATHS upon receiving the award.
|
Strive for excellence in dentistry
: set up your own dental excellence circle with insights.MD
INSIGHTS, ISfTeH corporate member, are always keen on learning what the INSIGHTS Community wants, and a large number of users have been asking for the opportunity to create private groups where more sensitive topics can be discussed. Our solution: INSIGHTS Excellence.
INSIGHTS Excellence allows you to create your own private Dental Community. Invite your colleagues, students, or whoever you want. Create topic specific forums, upload content, and hold private discussions. It is ideal for training programs, journal clubs, research groups, and more.
INSIGHTS Excellence is built to make your life easier. Inviting, uploading, and discussing are all super simple. What's more, INSIGHTS Excellence also makes sure that all your members are notified of any new discussions, or added content. Imagine being able to run a journal club in as little as two clicks a week? With Excellence, it is possible.
If you are interested in using INSIGHTS Excellence, take 2 steps:
- Register with INSIGHTS Dental here
- Register for your Excellence circle here
|
Finnish Information Strategy for Social and Health Care highlighted in new issue of Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare
The Finnish Journal of eHealth and eWelfare, co-published by the Finnish Society of Telemedicine and eHealth (national member in the ISfTeH), has just published a double issue focusing on research of social and health informatics in various aspects of the Finnish Information Strategy for Social and Health Care. The goal of this national strategy is to support both the renewal of social and health care and citizens' activity in the maintenance of their well-being by improving information management and increasing e-services.
There are already many social and healthcare e-services available in the country and the role and involvement of the citizen has become more active. Citizens can already access their own electronic prescriptions and part of the patient information through the Omakanta website. There are also various electronic web services available, such as Terveyskylä, developed together with experts and patients.
According to studies published in the latest issue of the Journal, citizens use more electronic services and are motivated to monitor their own well-being. The studies highlight the need to store citizens own measurement results into national information services and also highlight the challenge to use unified concepts and terms for the exchange of information across national borders.
The issue of the Journal can be accessed here.
|
Telecardiology opportunities in the Democratic Republic Congo
During the last two decades, the Congolese NGO "PSDA" (
"Promotion Sociale et Développement en Afrique", an ISfTeH national member) has been working on getting the main referential hospital institutions and some official universities to promote and implement eHealth and eLearning in the Democratic Republic of Congo. during that time, they participated several times at the ISfTeH's annual Med-e-Tel conference in Luxembourg.
Recently, they started working together with a well-known hospital in the Eastern Region of Congo on telemedicine projects, particularly in the field of telecardiology.
The PSDA is
looking for partners who can provide additional know-how and technologies to set up these projects. If you have experience (especially in the field of telecardiology applications) or if you can supply technological solutions, please contact Prof. André Lo (National Coordinator) per
e-mail.
|
Women in eHealth 2018-2019, a special theme issue of the JISfTeH
With two articles published in 2018, Volume 6
and five articles in 2019, Volume 7
, the Special Theme Issue covers various women's perspectives in eHealth, such as online interventions, the use of mHealth for maternal health, digital technology in midwifery practice, telemedicine distance education, contribution of online social networks, a MOOC type distance course for dentistry, and the #metoo movement as an exemplar.
The contributions come from authors from UK, Nigeria, Brazil, France and Luxembourg. Previous publications of the Special Theme Issues on "Women in eHealth" in 2015 and 2017 are available here.
|
Corporate member spotlight - H4D
H4D (Health for Development) was founded in France in 2008 by Dr. Franck Baudino with a strong ambition: to prevent medical deserts by developing new solutions to offer access to healthcare services where people live and work.
H4D used the latest digital technologies, its in-house medical expertise and its capacity to organize and coordinate care pathways to create the first connected medical booth. Its patented Consult Station and associated Consult Access software are certified in accordance with the requirements of the European Directive 93/42/EEC applicable to Class IIa medical devices. The device is also FDA-certified. These booths have given H4D a pioneering role in the fast-expanding telemedicine industry by offering new services for medical care, occupational medicine and prevention.
Patients at sites providing these services can use a secure and dedicated website to make appointments with a remote physician who has received training in the practice of telemedicine from H4D. Teleconsultations take place in an H4D medical booth, where patients can talk in complete privacy with a doctor connected by videoconference. The doctor guides the patient on how to use the various equipment in the booth in order to measure their weight and height, temperature, blood pressure, pulse oximetry, heart rate, etc. The teleconsultation software developed by H4D then sends the results of this clinical examination directly to the doctor, who makes a diagnosis under conditions similar to those of a medical practice and can print the prescription out for the patient in the booth.
Many health insurers and major groups (Airbus, EY, Sodexo, Vinci, etc.) interested in giving their members and employees easier access to healthcare have tried the services provided by H4D and were rapidly satisfied. H4D booths already set up at about forty sites in France - as well as in Italy and Portugal - have demonstrated the benefits and reliability of this healthcare access solution. Studies conducted by the company show that:
- its teleconsultation booths provide comprehensive care in 98% of cases,
- the overall patient satisfaction rate is 97.3%,
- 93.1% of patients receive medical care more rapidly,
- without this new healthcare access solution, 54.7% of patients would not treat themselves or opt for self-medication.
|
AMD Global Telemedicine announces AGNES Connect
ISfTeH Corporate member, AMD Global Telemedicine, announces the launch of its new AGNES Connect web-based telemedicine platform which allows to remotely manage and scale telehealth programs.
"We are excited to announce the release of AGNES Connect, a web-based telemedicine platform that expands our cloud-based infrastructure capabilities and delivers a solution for system-wide site management and network scalability," commented Eric Bacon, President of AMD Global Telemedicine.
AGNES Connect includes the following new features: facility access management tools, cloud-supported automatic software updates, simplified firewall transversal, cloud-to-cloud HL7 integration, live EKG streaming, notes templates, and enhanced user interface design.
"We understand how important it is for our customers to have technology that enables them to deliver the best care possible, and at the same time makes the workflow easy to support. The technology behind AGNES Connect is geared towards supporting our customers through their expansion into enterprise-wide telehealth programs," concluded Bacon.
You can read the full announcement here. To request more information, click here.
|
Medappcare officially accredited to provide certification of mobile apps and health websites
Medappcare, assessment and certification body, is now accredited by COFRAC (the French accreditation authority) to certify mobile apps and websites in health, well-being, disability, independent living, and veterinary medicine.
The Medappcare certification, CertiLife, covers a large field of criteria in 4 categories: ergono
mics, legal/data protection, cybersecurity, quality of the content, which was established after rigorous consultation and collaboration with experts in the field. The certification provides a guarantee of quality, reliability, and security for patients, healthcare professionals and care givers.
The French accreditation of Medappcare is also recognized in other European countries.
|
Data protection in the eHealth sector: challenges and opportunities under GDPR
At the 24th ISfTeH International Conference, held in the frame of the Portugal eHealth Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, the key challenges and opportunities regarding data protection in the eHealth sector were discussed. Cornelius Witt, Senior Manager Public Policy and Privacy at SCOPE Europe, informed the audience on recent developments in privacy regulations and what they mean for digital health solutions, telemedicine and related services.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fundamentally changed how personal data must be processed lawfully. The eHealth sector is particularly affected as the new law defines even stricter rules for so-called "special categories" of personal data, including all genetic, biometric and health data. Subsequently, innovative products and business models in the eHealth sector are critical under the new data protection regime and need an appropriate and deep assessment of legal obligations. At the same time, GDPR itself introduces regulatory solutions which enable stakeholders to shape the exact implementation of privacy obligations based on their specific needs. For example, organizations from one specific sector can jointly define and concretize legal requirements in a Code of Conduct, which can serve as a compliance tool if all regulatory obligations are met.
Cornelius Witt outlined the key benefits of Codes of Conduct, especially for an innovation-driven sector such as eHealth and telemedicine and gave insights on best practices and compliance solutions under GDPR for the health ecosystem.
|
Cybersecurity in hospitals: share your views!
The EU funded SecureHospitals.eu project is running a survey on cybersecurity in hospitals. The aim of the questionnaire is to acquire a general understanding on the perceptions of healthcare professionals and IT staff on cybersecurity issues with a focus on awareness, training and protection measures.
Following this assessment and other research activities, the project will develop tailor-made training packages and offer training sessions for multiple types of stakeholders in different European countries.
|
Scaling up telemedicine implementation: focus on community readiness
Telemedicine is seen as having great potential in improving quality of care, increasing access to care and closing the existing gaps between different medical fields and professions.
However, its implementation is also strained by a large variety of external factors. While some challenges will have to be targeted on the policy level (especially those concerning laws and standards for delivering care using telemedicine technology), others can be addressed more directly within a community itself.
The Junior Research Group Care4Saxony is conducting research on telemedicine implementation and is currently conducting a survey on 'community readiness' in telemedicine. The purpose of the survey is to understand how a community manages to implement telemedicine strategies which serve each and every member of the community.
|
Role of digital applications in health and social protection systems
At a recent conference in Malawi on regional health and social protection, organized by GIZ (the German organization for international cooperation), ISfTeH member Karl Stroetmann highlighted the fact that digitalising health and social protection systems is much less about IT than about making processes more efficient, transparent and collaborative and about enabling exponential learning. While digitalisation increases quality, safety and efficiency of service delivery, it can also provide quick and up-to-date information to managers, political decision makers and service providers alike. There is a risk, however, of fragmentation and duplication of efforts with different partner-funded digital tools operating in parallel without an overarching interoperability framework ensuring their complementarity and alignment with national policy objectives.
To avoid this situation, Stroetmann underlined the need for countries to develop legally-rooted digital health policies and strategies, and, more importantly, a practical roadmap and action plan breaking these down into actions to be taken by different players within an agreed timeframe. One open digital health platform and an interoperability framework should be established to link all digital applications, each contributing to, and benefiting from, the resulting digital ecosystem. Stroetmann referred delegates to his GIZ-commissioned study Digital Health Ecosystem for African Countries, as well as to the BMZ case study Digitalising Nepal's health sector, which shows how GIZ digital health experts can effectively support these processes.
The event brought together about 120 GIZ health and social protection experts and counterparts from 10 African countries. More information about the conference is available here.
|
Global Summit Telemedicine & Digital Health - an international meeting in Brazil
Between April 3rd and 6th, the Global Summit Telemedicine & Digital Health was held in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, as the largest event of its kind in Latin America and the Caribbean to date.
For four days, more than 1,500 people discussed the most relevant and current topics in the areas of telemedicine and digital health. Thirteen international speakers from Germany, Belgium, USA, Israel, Portugal and the UK have shown what is being done in their countries and in the world and what the future holds.
Frank Lievens, ISfTeH Executive Secretary, with his extensive experience and knowledge, represented ISfTeH at this event, which also counted with more than 80 national lecturers. Participants, speakers and exhibitors expressed their appreciation for the content, ambiance and organization of the Global Summit, revealing the success of it.
The Global Summit was an initiative of the Paulista Medical Association (APM), in partnership with the Transamerica Expo Center. Dr. José Luiz Gomes do Amaral, President of APM was also the President of the meeting and Drs. Jefferson G. Fernandes and Antonio Carlos Endrigo were respectively Presidents of the Board of Curators and of the Organizing Committee.
|
Pro Digital Health: new French digital health conference a success
French Association (and ISfTeH member) Agir pour la Télémédecine, together with CREAI Nouvelle-Aquitaine and their partners (Region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Department of Vienne, Urban Community of Grand Poitiers, University Hospital of Poitiers, French Tech Bordeaux, Cluster TIC Santé, SPN, Alliance Innovation Santé Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and Eurisy) gathered more than 300 participants on April 4th and 5th in Poitiers, France for the first edition of Pro Digital Health.
The event featured:
-
Fourteen conference sessions focusing on how digital solutions can help to face the challenges of today's healthcare systems and services as well as focusing on practical digital health applications and experiences in various health and care settings and disciplines (pro-digital-health.com/programme-pdh).
-
A 24-hour hackathon gathered 20 participants divided into 4 teams who worked on solutions around the coordination of care, care pathways and the user's "health journey between the city and the hospital". Both a "tech" prize and a "user" prize were awarded to the winners, incl. a money prize of 1,000 euros (pro-digital-health.com/2019/04/hackathon).
-
During a 'connected evening' 10 digital health startups, who also participated in the Pro Digital Health expo, presented their solutions. An innovation prize was awarded with a grant of 1,500 euros to the company FEDMIND for its solution OBEGITAL, a therapeutic education application to improve the quality of life of obese patients.
-
In the margins of the conference, which also hosted four foreign delegations from Tunisia, Mali, Ivory Coast and Belgium, a study tour was organized to visit several health and care institutions in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, including the Bordeaux University Hospital, Poitiers University Hospital and a nursing home in the Poitiers area. These visits allowed participants to see specific telemedicine/telehealth initiatives in practice and to discover synergies and perspectives to advance telemedicine in their own institutions, regions or countries.
-
Twenty-five participants were able to attend a CPD training, offered by Agir pour la Télémédecine, on the optimization of emergency care by telemedicine.
Based on the success of this initial event, the next edition of Pro Digital Health has already been confirmed and will again take place at Futuroscope in Poitiers on March 26-27, 2020. For more information or to get involved in the next edition, contact Sophie Hervé, Communication Director, Agir pour la Télémédecine.
|
Career award for LuÃs Gonçalves
At the recent Portugal eHealth Summit, the SPMS (Shared Services of the Ministry of Health, Portugal) distinguished several institutions and individuals for their work in support of the national health system, in areas such as digital communication, telehealth, information systems, health websites, SPMS Academy training, and procurement.
The Control and Monitoring Center of the SNS (National Health Service) distinguished institutions, pharmacies and laboratories, in the area of procurement and also in telehealth, culminating with the delivery of the Career Award to Professor LuÃs Gonçalves.
Prof. Gonçalves is the President of the "Iberian Society for Telemedicine and Telehealth (SITT, the national member for Portugal in the ISfTeH), and head of several of Portugal's telemedicine projects that were presented at the 24th ISfTeH International Conference in the frame of the Portugal eHealth Summit by his colleagues Miguel Castelo-Branco, Rui Nêveda and Lino Gonçalves.
Congratulations LuÃs!
|
Global South eHealth Observatory conference announced
The conference is scheduled for July 1, 2019 at the Foundation's headquarters in Lavaur, France and will bring together experts, international organizations, ministries and NGOs to discuss the challenges of transforming health strategies for the benefit of all through eHealth capacity building of stakeholders and supporting efficient information systems. The conference will also reward the most promising eHealth initiatives of 2019.
The Global South eHealth Observatory was created in 2016 at the initiative of the Pierre Fabre Foundation, as a reference platform to connect actors who, thanks to innovation, meet the challenges of health access in low and middle income countries, right up to the "last mile". The Observatory's mission is to identify, document, promote and help develop eHealth initiatives that improve access to quality care and medicines for the most disadvantaged populations in resource-limited countries. In four years, more than 140 initiatives have been referenced, 24 of which have received one-year technical and financial support.
|
Board member spotlight - Claudia Bartz
I live in rural Wisconsin (USA), a state that lies north of Chicago. Living in a rural area gives me a great appreciation for the capability and promise of telehealth applications. I am a professional registered nurse. I graduated with a Baccalaureate in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin (1969), a Masters of Nursing from the University of Washington (1979) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Arizona (1986).
I joined the US Army Nurse Corps in 1967 while a nursing student and served until retirement (1999). My clinical specialty was critical care nursing. As I progressed in my career, I took on staff level responsibility for education programs and for the regulatory oversight of Army and Department of Defense human and animal research. In addition to US-based assignments, I served in Asmara, Ethiopia, in Augsburg and Munich, Germany, and in Mons, Belgium.
After retirement from the Army, I was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Nursing. I taught nursing research and clinical nursing and I was project director for three funded grants. From 2005 to 2015, I worked for the International Council of Nurses. I began as Coordinator of the International Classification for Nursing Practice Programme and then, when ICN approved beginning an eHealth Programme, I served as eHealth Programme Coordinator. I managed the ICN Telenursing Network, organized meetings of and speakers for network meetings, prepared presentations and publications, and represented ICN at professional meetings.
My introduction to the ISfTeH came in 2009 when I was asked to stand-in for the ICN CEO as a speaker during the opening session of the annual Med-e-Tel conference. I could immediately see the value of a multi-faceted international organization that concerned itself with advancing telemedicine and telehealth worldwide. I served almost 10 years as the Chair of the ISfTeH Telenursing Working Group. I communicated with nurses in the TWG and with nurses in the ICN Telenursing Network, encouraging nurses to attend Med-e-Tel and other related telehealth conferences and to make presentations and publish their work. I organized virtual nursing education sessions. I made 1 to 2 presentations at every Med-e-Tel. I published several manuscripts in the JISfTeH (Journal of the ISfTeH). Several years ago, I joined as an Individual Member so that I could vote on matters before the organization.
While I am no longer employed, I continue to advocate for health, wellness and telehealth. For example, I am a member of the Healthy Oconto County working group in Wisconsin. I keep current with the telehealth literature with particular attention to the roles of nurses in telehealth research. I am a reviewer for JISfTeH. I prepared the USA chapter for the 2018 volume of A Century of Telemedicine (Telehealth-Telemedicine in the USA).
As a member of the ISfTeH Board of Directors, I will continue to advocate for interdisciplinary representation and participation across the spectrum of the organization. I will also advocate for sound policies and practices of the ISfTeH and support its strong outreach to all of the working groups and to individual, and academic and corporate members. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve.
|
|
Upcoming ISfTeH supported meetings and conferences
ISfTeH Events:
|
|
25th ISfTeH International Conference
8-10 October 2020
Takasaki, Japan
|
|
ISfTeH Supported Events:
|
|
TTRN Conference: New Horizons for Connecting Health - Artificial Intelligence and Entrepreneurship
25-26 April 2019
Copenhagen, Denmark
|
|
dHealth 2019
28-29 May 2019
Vienna, Austria
|
|
3rd China-Europe Innovation Forum on Smart Health and Privacy Protection (SmartHealth 2019)
19-23 August 2019
|
|
Revolutionizing Healthcare with IT
13-14 September 2019
Hyderabad, India
|
|
ICDHT 2019 - 2nd International Conference on Digital Health Technologies
15-17 December 2019
Hammamet, Tunisia
|
|
Pro Digital Health
26-27 March 2020
Poitiers, France
|
|
eHealth 2020 - 25th Finnish National Conference on Telemedicine/eHealth
23-25 April 2020
Helsinki, Finland
|
|
ISfTeH Supported Events Calendar
and
Other Telemedicine/eHealth Events
|
|
New ISfTeH members
The ISfTeH is pleased to welcome the following new members into its global network:
National Member:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Emirates Health Informatics Society, UAE
|
|
|
Associate Member:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNFM, France
|
|
|
Institutional Members:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMAMED, Romania
|
KREAD Foundation, India
|
|
Individual Members:
|
|
|
|
James
Black
, UK
Florian Stummer, Austria
Rik De Decker, South Africa
Ramiro Vaca Narvaja, Argentina
|
Charles Dwamena, Ghana
Hany Eryan, Canada
Jose Paczka, Mexico
|
|
Nurse Members:
|
|
|
Diane Kot
, USA
Brenda Sloppy
, USA
KellieJo Shirey
, USA
Julianne Hassan
, USA
|
Ana Mesqita, Portugal
Sharon Guthridge, USA
Anne Kuusisto, Finland
Sari Nissinen, Finland
|
Rebecca Bates
, USA
Kathleen Murphy, USA
Kyoko Sato, USA
|
Student Members:
|
|
|
|
Atta Ullah
,
Pakistan
Idris Abdulhameed, Nigeria
Madeline Matotek, USA
Julia Havron
, USA
Sarah Liller, USA
Elwin Frempong, USA
Cassidy Peregoy
, USA
Kimberly Waks, USA
Rehan Ahmed
, USA
Regina Brobbey, Ghana
|
Brandan Nokes, USA
Bahareh Azizi, USA
Shannon Wuerthele, USA
Teressa Carrozzi, USA
Zoe Textoris, USA
Danielle Lloyd, USA
Michael Kuupiel, Ghana
Viola Iwuajoku, Germany
Jung Lee, Germany
Kristen Harclerode, USA
|
Lauren Rusy, USA
Danielle Lancaster, USA
Chilge Iko, Nigeria
Heather Cummings, USA
Daniel Hager, Germany
Naveen Moses Raj Rajkumar, Germany
Reshat Bekteshi, Austria
Allison Halpert, USA
Kara Kicia, USA
|
Click here for full member list or to join as a new member
|
|
Join the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth and participate in ISfTeH Working Groups
- Are you heading a national or regional telemedicine/eHealth organization?
- Do you offer telemedicine products and solutions?
- Are you doing research on telemedicine and eHealth applications and technologies?
- Does your organization provide (or wants to offer) care services by means of telemedicine/eHealth technologies?
- Are you engaged in healthcare policy?
If so, you should consider joining the ISfTeH network to expand your global reach, enhance your network, broaden your knowledge and learn about key issues and new ideas in telemedicine and eHealth by interacting and engaging in partnerships with other ISfTeH members from around the world.
As a member, you will also be able to participate in or actively contribute to the ISfTeH Working Groups (WGs), or start up new initiatives. Current WGs include among others Open Source Software, Chronic Disease Management, Social Media, Telenursing, Students, Women and eHealth, Tele-audiology, Telecardiology, Teledentistry, Teledermatology, Tele-urology. Contact info@isfteh.org if you are interested in any of these topics or want to join a Working Group.
Or if you are interested in obtaining exposure in future editions of this newsletter (through advertising, feature articles, etc.), contact us at info@isfteh.org.
For more information: www.isfteh.org
|
|
Partners & Corporate Members
|
|
Questions, suggestions? Our board members listen to you!
The ISfTeH board members will be pleased to hear from you with any questions or suggestions you may have related to the Society itself or regarding any telemedicine and eHealth applications or services that you are working on or that you are looking for:
Management Board
Submit your questions/suggestions via info@isfteh.org.
|
|
ISfTeH Lifetime Achievement Awards
|
|
