Vodafone Telemedicine Program - Closer to early diagnosis, stronger!
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The Vodafone Telemedicine Program, supports general and rural physicians while promoting preventive medicine. It contributes to the prevention of diseases through their early diagnosis and also covers patients with chronic diseases, as it provides the opportunity to systematically check their health status at their place of residence, removing geographical or other restrictions.
The Vodafone Foundation harnesses the power of the company's technology and implements programs that support local communities and their people.
One such initiative is the Vodafone Telemedicine Programme, which has been implemented since 2006 in 100 remote areas of mainland and island Greece, providing free preventive health services.
The Telemedicine Programme exploits the potential of Vodafone's constantly evolving and high quality network in the health sector, enabling more than 500,000 residents of remote areas to gain free access to high quality specialist health services. It is worth noting that since 2006, when the programme was implemented, more than 55,000 examinations have been carried out.
How it works
With the Vodafone Telemedicine Programme, residents of remote areas can visit the regional health centre/health clinic where the Programme is implemented and have free basic preventive medical examinations, such as cardiograms and spirometry. These tests, if the general/rural doctor decides that he/she wants a consultative opinion, are sent through the Vodafone network to cardiologists/ pulmonologists of the Athens Medical Centre. The cardiologists/pulmonologists then provide their consultative opinion directly and quickly in the same way.
The other tests included in the programme are oximetry, blood pressure and blood sugar measurement, total cholesterol and triglycerides, the results of which, combined with the results of the clinical tests already included in the programme, enable the assessment of cardiovascular risk for the next decade. In March 2018, prevention services for menopause and osteoporosis were added to the programme, covering all women over the age of 45. Using internationally recognised questionnaires, women can easily and quickly assess the severity of their symptoms so that they can then receive appropriate counselling and/or medication.
The Programme also provides the possibility of creating an electronic medical record of the patient, through which general practitioners/rural doctors can better and more comprehensively monitor the health of their patients. Particularly important is the fact that as the equipment is portable, the general/rural practitioner can perform the examinations at the district clinic or at the patient's home with the same ease, or as is already the case, more than one local clinic in the same district can be served with the same equipment.
Benefits
The Telemedicine Program supports general and rural physicians while promoting preventive medicine. It contributes to the prevention of diseases through early diagnosis and also covers patients with chronic diseases, as it enables systematic monitoring of their health status at their place of residence, removing geographical or other restrictions.
Partners
The Vodafone Telemedicine Programme is implemented in collaboration with the Athens Medical Centre and is under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Shipping and the Aegean. The National Inter-Municipal Network of Healthy Cities-Health Promotion is involved in the Programme, while the technical implementation is undertaken by Vidavo.