The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) will soon roll out its RoboDoc initiative across all DHA hospitals and health centres after the completion of the pilot phase in March.

The authority will also extend the Dubai RoboDoc initiative to home-care patients where a nurse will visit the patients and dial in for teleconsultations if needed.

DHA is the first government health organization in the region to implement telehealth. As part of the pilot, RoboDocs have been placed at Hatta Hospital’s emergency department and DHA’s 24 hour primary healthcare centres- Al Barsha and Nad Al Hammar and they are linked to Rashid Hospital’s Trauma Center.

Dr Moin Fikree, medical director of Trauma Centre and lead for the DHA’s Telemedicine initiative, said: “Telemedicine is the way forward in many ways. It ensures immediate access to specialised consultation, which is particularly helpful in emergency situations. It also reduces the transfer of patients to Rashid Hospital’s Trauma Centre and helps enhance the functioning of other DHA emergency departments and ICU’s. Telehealth is a boon especially in emergency cases, where time plays a critical role in saving a patient’s life. Telehealth provides immediate access to consultation with specialists. In fact, through the robot, doctors can consult with two or more specialists in different health facilities at the same time to get immediate specialised consultation.”

For example, doctors from Hatta Hospital will be able to consult with a neurologist from Rashid hospital and a cardiologist from Dubai Hospital at the same time.

Dr Fikree said: “Through this technology we are cutting down in time lapses, reducing the need for patients to travel from Hatta or other areas to Rashid Hospital and providing them with specialised health services.”

“Worldwide studies point out to the growth and benefits of telemedicine. A 2012 study of one health system in the US shows that the number of annual consultations will grow from 350,000 in 2012 to 7 million in 2018. Another study of a family practise clinic showed that telemedicine has reduced the cost of consultation from 95 dollars to 45 dollars which is approximately a reduction of 50 per cent in cost.”

DHA is using robots designed by InTouch Health Technologies, which is a company that pioneers in remote present robots systems to enable healthcare professionals to provide more effective and efficient healthcare by allowing them to be in two places at once.

Yulun Wang, chairman and CEO of InTouch Health and Past Immediate vice- president American Telemedicine Association, earlier said: “The challenge today for all healthcare organisations worldwide is how to deliver consistent high quality care at lower costs. Telehealth is the answer because it can leverage physicians such that physicians can be available anytime and anywhere and they can provide quality care to anyone at reduced costs. There have been many studies, which highlight that with the right technology telemedicine consultations are just as effective as in-person meetings. In fact, telemedicine consultations can be better than in-patient consultations as well because the computer helps the physician in real time. The computer analyses the images of the patient in real time and helps improve the diagnostic capabilities.

“For example: If telehealth is used in dermatology, while the dermatologist is looking at a patient’s lesion or rash, the computer can be looking at the rash at the same time and it can give the dermatologist suggestions on what the rash might be. A physician is limited by his eyesight but the computer can see and magnify the images. Therefore moving forward, telehealth will not only become a vital tool to provide medical care at any time and place but also a tool to improve diagnosis.”

In future phases, DHA also plans to extend the usage of RoboDocs to ICUs, NICUs and for further consultation purposes. - TradeArabia News Service