MDNews - Greater Boston

By Jennifer Webster Driving Forces behind International Telemedicine Philanthropy and Profi t: A ROBOT HELPS A cardiologist in California consult with a heart attack patient in China. A pediatric neurologist on sabbatical in Europe examines a patient in Washington, D.C. An orthopedic surgeon in Texas lectures medical residents in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A transcriptionist in India creates a medical note based on dictation from a physician in the United States. These instances refl ect international telemedicine's diversity of services and technologies. Participant motivations are equally varied. International telemedicine as practiced in the United States incorporates for-profi t and nonprofi t models, says Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association. U.S. hospitals may partner with organizations in the developing world to expand healthcare services in disadvantaged regions. Alternately, hospitals may pursue international telemedicine commercially, offering for-profi t medical care to customers in nations that may have areas of concentrated wealth but still lack the capabilities of the American medical market. Often, different departments within a single healthcare organization use both models. "You have a lot of work between U.S. hospitals and the devel- oping world, while the marketing arms of hospitals work to offer for-profi t services to other places," Linkous says. He also mentions a reverse model, in which American hospitals stand on the receiving end of telemedicine, purchasing services found more readily or inexpensively overseas. Examples include medical transcription, which has long been performed abroad, and interpretation of patholog y a nd radiolog y images. Internationa l CROSS-BORDER CONSULTATIONS HAVE BECOME COMMONPLACE, BUT DEVELOPING BEST PRACTICES FOR INTERNATIONAL TELEMEDICINE IS AS MUCH A QUESTION OF REGULATION AND TECHNOLOGY AS ONE OF HEALTHCARE PROTOCOLS. SPECI A L FE AT UR E 1 0 | Greater Boston MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M

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