Telemedicine in haemodialysis: a university department and two remote satellites linked together as one common workplace

A common workplace was established between the renal unit at the University Hospital of North Norway and two satellite dialysis centres, in Alta and Hammerfest. A 2 Mbit/s ATM network was employed for IP-based videoconferencing. A common electronic medical record system and dialysis monitoring softw...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of telemedicine and telecare 2005-01, Vol.11 (5), p.251-255
Main Authors: Rumpsfeld, Markus, Arild, Eli, Norum, Jan, Breivik, Elin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Costs and Cost Analysis - methods
Female
Hospitals, Special - organization & administration
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Renal Dialysis - economics
Renal Dialysis - methods
Software
Telemedicine
Telemedicine - economics
Telemedicine - methods
Telemedicine - organization & administration
Urology Department, Hospital - organization & administration
Videoconferencing - economics
Videoconferencing - instrumentation
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Summary:A common workplace was established between the renal unit at the University Hospital of North Norway and two satellite dialysis centres, in Alta and Hammerfest. A 2 Mbit/s ATM network was employed for IP-based videoconferencing. A common electronic medical record system and dialysis monitoring software were used. During an eight-month study period, nine patients were enrolled and 225 videoconferences were performed for daily visits and regular rounds. A bandwidth of 768 kbit/s was required for satisfactory teledialysis. Although technical (28%) and logistical problems (10%) were frequent, five hospitalizations and one-third of the planned visiting rounds were avoided. An economic analysis showed that annual savings amounted to US$46,613, while annual costs were US$79,489. Despite the technical difficulties in about 30% of conferences, the nurses were satisfied with the videoconferencing system. Digital X-rays were communicated without problems. The pilot study indicates that satellite units may be incorporated into the daily management at the central institution by telemedicine.
ISSN:1357-633X
1758-1109
DOI:10.1258/1357633054471885