Dr. Shariq Khoja- CEO Tech4Life Enterprises
Background: Telemedicine is getting growing attention for improving health services around the world. Advancements in technology, along with the growing readiness among health providers and health systems, has allowed telemedicine to make an impact in a variety of conditions. Some sectors like mining and oil and gas (M+O&G) face unique conditions for the use of telemedicine, such as large number of employees working in remote conditions for a long period of time, lack of specialized health services near their locations, difficulties and cost in arranging transport for sick patients, loss of crucial time and resources when the employees travel for medical help. Many of these problems can be answered effectively using telemedicine.
Possible Telemedicine models for M+O&G sectors: There are several possible ways of connecting the patients and health providers in remote locations to the expert health providers who could do an expert triage, diagnosis and treatment. Different variations of this hub and spoke model could be as follows:
- Health professionals based at the remote locations of M+O&G sector provide the required information, such as history, exam, vitals, sounds, videos, ECG and radiology information to the health experts using live or store and forward methods. If required, expert health providers should be able to monitor the patients remotely for the required duration of time.
- Self-used telemedicine kits or kiosks available in remote locations for patients to use either themselves or with the help of trained volunteers. The software and equipment allows the patient to send the required information to the expert health providers for their advice.
- Patients are able to communicate using mobile or desktop applications with or without vital signs monitoring.
Studies conducted in different parts of the world have shown that the industry is making efforts to move towards the first model for the best possible services for its employees.
Benefits: Telemedicine offers several benefits to the M+O&G sectors, which include:
- Timely triage of the patients and identifying the ones who need to be transported to the next facilities.
- Avoiding travel of patients who do not need to be transported, thus saving time, cost and resources.
- Improved trust and confidence among the employees and management about the health care.
- Better coordinated care and timely arrangement of services before the patients are brought to the specialized health facilities.
Challenges: Several challenges need to be overcome for the success of telemedicine programs in M+O&G sectors:
- Proper education of management, health providers and employees to give ‘Telemedicine a chance’ to help achieve their goals.
- Enhance the connectivity and ensure the choice of the right software and hardware for sharing appropriate and timely information with expert health providers.
- Choosing the right organizations or telemedicine hubs for triaging and arranging the right facilities for the patients.
Conclusion: Telemedicine can offer huge benefits to M+O&G sectors for improving health services for their employees, families and other populations they serve. Right investment in technology and human resources can ensure the best returns for their investment. Tech4Life not only offers the best combination of software and hardware for such conditions, but also brings in the partners who can provide better connectivity and health services to the M+O&G sectors. For more information, please contact info@tech4lifeenterprises.com