Bringing together telemedicine experts and healthcare professionals from around the world, Telemedicon13 - International Telemedicine Conference will kick off Nov 29 in Jaipur. The three-day interaction seeks to bridge distances to provide clinical health care in underserved areas.
Telemedicon13 is an initiative of the Telemedicine Society of India to increase the awareness and practice of TeleHealth in India in order to contribute to the improvement of the state of health in the country, said Telemedicon13 organising secretary Col. (Dr) Ashvini Goel.
Telemedicon13 is based on the theme of eHealth -- it proposes to explore the opportunities that lie in deploying eHealth technology in healthcare in our country with special emphasis on rural healthcare, Col. Goel told IANS.
He pointed out that the flourishing digital communication industry in India has the potential to dramatically change the way healthcare providers reach out to the underserved patients in the remote locations through the medium of telemedicine -- in health education, in screening and diagnosis, in the way patients have access to medical information and health care.
Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations.
The three-day conference is expected to attract over 2,000 participants from a wide spectrum of healthcare practitioners and telemedicine experts from India and abroad and offer them a great opportunity to interact with and listen to technology experts share the latest in eHealth; learn how healthcare providers have deployed technology to enhance their work and to understand their glitches; and be exposed to existing telemedicine platforms.
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Maj. Gen. (Retd) A.K. Singh, Telemedicon13 chairman, observed that despite a considerable improvement in national healthcare infrastructure, a lot still needs to be done as regards rural healthcare.
He said telemedicine offers great opportunities for underserved and remote areas, where access to basic healthcare is of primary concern. The most significant opportunity that telemedicine provides is increased access to healthcare. Providing populace with access to healthcare in underserved areas has the potential to help meet previously unmet needs and positively impact existing health services, he added.
Telemedicon13 is also the 9th Annual Conference of the Telemedicine Society of India (TSI), formed in 2001 by senior scientists of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), senior doctors from various national-level institutes and senior officials of the ministries of health and of information technology.