Hon. Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, the Chief Guest, launched the project at a ceremony held at the Hotel Galadari, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The other Special invitees in the picture are Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Mr. Reshan Dewapura, Chief Operating Officer of ICTA, Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe, Director of UCSC, Hon. Minister, Dr. Keith Chapman, Principle Author of the Vidu Suwa Concept, Dr. Narendra Pinto, President of the College of Surgeons and Dr. Shiromi Arunatileka, Senior Lecturer/UCSC.
Vidu Suwa Launch – 22nd June 2009 @ Hotel Galadari, Colombo, Sri Lanka
VIDU SUWA - A Patient Centric eHealth Solution
Vidu Suwa is a project initiated by a Health Industry Specialist, identifying a burning need for patients in the periphery to meet consultants in the more developed areas bridging the gap of resource disparity in the health sector. In a developing country, due to the resource restrictions, lack of funds, lack of proper infrastructure and low level of patient know-how, transfer of technology among the general public is slow.
VIDU SUWA – Electronic Remote Healing
According to Dr. Keith Chapman (Consultant Surgeon, Chilaw General Hospital), the principle author of the concept, the main focus of Vidu Suwa is to link the specialist in a general hospital in a city with a patient in a peripheral setting via an Electronic media. An Electronic Medical Record system(EMR) is used to transfer the information and a doctor is assisting the patient using easily acquirable relatively inexpensive technology that is currently being used. This simple concept can be done with a very little extension to the existing technology. He explains that the whole scenario consists of 4 main components as given below.
This project is designed to be implemented using an evolutionary approach in order to have a smooth eTransformation. The pilot project for phase one will be carried out at a Base Hospital in Sri Lanka which will be the specialist e-consultation centre in collaboration with a peripheral hospital which will act as e-care clinic. Dr. Keith Chapman, Consultant Surgeon and Dr. Shiromi Arunatileka, Senior Lecturer of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) designed the concept after extensive research, which was well accepted at an International Conference in Barcelona this year.
(i) The Peripheral eHealth Clinic
A District Hospital, Rural Hospital, MOH (Medical Officer of Health) or Peripheral Unit will form the first level of an eCare clinic. At this level of care, in a rural setting, a trained doctor competent in using a computer, Internet, E-mail, SMS (Short Messaging Service) and data recording experience is an essential factor. This doctor should have at his disposal, a computer, a printer, a high resolution digital camera, a webcam, broadband internet connection, headset or audio facility and telephone facility and a healthcare assistant (nursing officer).
(ii) Web based eHealth record system
The peripheral eCare clinic is connected through a web-based patient medical record (herein referred to as an e-health record). This consists of the patient profile and a detailed checklist for every visit to the e-care clinic. All the patient’s clinical records are entered in this as equivalent to a clinic book.
(iii) The mCommunication System
According to a preliminary survey done, the results show that over 51% of the patients have access to their own personal mobile phone, out of which 50% use SMS tool. Nearly 80% of patients have access to mobile phones through an immediate family member. Therefore, the m-communication system can be used for sending important information such as the Clinic date, Operation date, Medication, Re-admission date, etc. to patients using a mobile phone.
(iv) The eConsultation Center with a Specialist
The Specialist (consultant) is based at the Teaching Hospital, District General Hospital or Base Hospital at an eConsultancy Centre which would also have the basic system requirements as in the rural eCare clinic. In addition to the specialist’s advice, Medical prescription notes, Diabetic advisory charts, postoperative mobility regimens, dietary advice etc. are transmitted to the rural eCare clinic via the web based system.
BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
Benefits To the Patient : Dr. Keith Chapman further explains that the main beneficiary of this system is the patient as his travel expenditure, difficulty of traveling and travel time will be reduced considerably. Unnecessary secondary visits to tertiary centers and specialist clinics will be reduced as well.
Benefits For the Peripheral Hospitals : The cost of transfer of patients from peripheral hospitals to tertiary centers also can be drastically reduced. This will facilitate the availability of ambulances for critical and emergency transfers between institutions. The availability of patient health records electronically will help these hospitals to make pro-active decisions on resource allocations and patient care.
Benefits to the Specialist (Consultant) : The Specialist makes himself available across a distance at many e-clinics within the shortest possible time frame. This has the added impact of specialized care reaching out to the periphery. Needless to say that knowledge transfer occurs with benefit to the doctor at the peripheral e-clinic and a closer professional link is established between the specialist and the peripheral doctor. The “cachment area” for the specialist will definitely increase as he is virtually available to a larger population.
This project explores the benefits, issues and challenges in evolving healthcare methodology with regard to setting up of a realistic eHealth plan in a developing country. ICT in Health has evolved to bridge the gap between the urban healthcare specialist and their rural patients. Dr. Chapman assures that this approach will improve the quality of healthcare by way of enabling healthcare professionals to make better decisions on their patients wherever they are located in Sri Lanka.The concept can be applied to any sort of clinic be it medical, dermatological, ENT or any other field with some modifications to templates that will be used in the EMR.
The Launch of the Project on the 22nd of June 2009
According to Dr. Keith Chapman, “Vidu Suwa” is conceptually a mixture of the health sector working with the ICT researchers to bring relief to patients in the periphery facilitating the virtual presence of the Consultant and the Patient. This project highlights the importance of multidisciplinary projects with a view of solving real life problems of the society. The Vidu Suwa project is being implemented by four fourth year students of the Bachelor of Science (BICT) degree programme of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Miss Dinusha Vatsalan, Miss Saatviga Sudhahar, Miss Yvonne Wicramasinghe and Mr. Dulindra Wijetilleka, with the advice and guidance of Dr. Keith Chapman, Consultant Surgeon, Dr. Shiromi Arunatileka, Senior Lecturer/UCSC and Mr. Gihan Senevirathna, Head of the Department of Computation and Intelligent Systems, UCSC. The financial assistance for the “Vidu Suwa” project is from the e-Society programme of the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). The connectivity for the Pilot project is generously offered by the Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT).
On the 22nd of June, 2009, Hon. Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, the Chief Guest, launched the project at a ceremony held at the Hotel Galadari, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The other Special invitees and Guest Speakers were Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Dr. Narendra Pinto, President of the College of Surgeons, Dr. Keith Chapman, Principle Author of the Vidu Suwa Concept, Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe, Director of UCSC and Mr. Reshan Dewapura, Chief Operating Officer of ICTA. A lot of distinguished guests from the health sector, the ICT Sector and media were present at the occasion.
Vidu Suwa Launch – 22nd June 2009 @ Hotel Galadari, Colombo, Sri Lanka
VIDU SUWA - A Patient Centric eHealth Solution
Vidu Suwa is a project initiated by a Health Industry Specialist, identifying a burning need for patients in the periphery to meet consultants in the more developed areas bridging the gap of resource disparity in the health sector. In a developing country, due to the resource restrictions, lack of funds, lack of proper infrastructure and low level of patient know-how, transfer of technology among the general public is slow.
VIDU SUWA – Electronic Remote Healing
According to Dr. Keith Chapman (Consultant Surgeon, Chilaw General Hospital), the principle author of the concept, the main focus of Vidu Suwa is to link the specialist in a general hospital in a city with a patient in a peripheral setting via an Electronic media. An Electronic Medical Record system(EMR) is used to transfer the information and a doctor is assisting the patient using easily acquirable relatively inexpensive technology that is currently being used. This simple concept can be done with a very little extension to the existing technology. He explains that the whole scenario consists of 4 main components as given below.
This project is designed to be implemented using an evolutionary approach in order to have a smooth eTransformation. The pilot project for phase one will be carried out at a Base Hospital in Sri Lanka which will be the specialist e-consultation centre in collaboration with a peripheral hospital which will act as e-care clinic. Dr. Keith Chapman, Consultant Surgeon and Dr. Shiromi Arunatileka, Senior Lecturer of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) designed the concept after extensive research, which was well accepted at an International Conference in Barcelona this year.
(i) The Peripheral eHealth Clinic
A District Hospital, Rural Hospital, MOH (Medical Officer of Health) or Peripheral Unit will form the first level of an eCare clinic. At this level of care, in a rural setting, a trained doctor competent in using a computer, Internet, E-mail, SMS (Short Messaging Service) and data recording experience is an essential factor. This doctor should have at his disposal, a computer, a printer, a high resolution digital camera, a webcam, broadband internet connection, headset or audio facility and telephone facility and a healthcare assistant (nursing officer).
(ii) Web based eHealth record system
The peripheral eCare clinic is connected through a web-based patient medical record (herein referred to as an e-health record). This consists of the patient profile and a detailed checklist for every visit to the e-care clinic. All the patient’s clinical records are entered in this as equivalent to a clinic book.
(iii) The mCommunication System
According to a preliminary survey done, the results show that over 51% of the patients have access to their own personal mobile phone, out of which 50% use SMS tool. Nearly 80% of patients have access to mobile phones through an immediate family member. Therefore, the m-communication system can be used for sending important information such as the Clinic date, Operation date, Medication, Re-admission date, etc. to patients using a mobile phone.
(iv) The eConsultation Center with a Specialist
The Specialist (consultant) is based at the Teaching Hospital, District General Hospital or Base Hospital at an eConsultancy Centre which would also have the basic system requirements as in the rural eCare clinic. In addition to the specialist’s advice, Medical prescription notes, Diabetic advisory charts, postoperative mobility regimens, dietary advice etc. are transmitted to the rural eCare clinic via the web based system.
BENEFITS OF THE PROPOSED SOLUTION
Benefits To the Patient : Dr. Keith Chapman further explains that the main beneficiary of this system is the patient as his travel expenditure, difficulty of traveling and travel time will be reduced considerably. Unnecessary secondary visits to tertiary centers and specialist clinics will be reduced as well.
Benefits For the Peripheral Hospitals : The cost of transfer of patients from peripheral hospitals to tertiary centers also can be drastically reduced. This will facilitate the availability of ambulances for critical and emergency transfers between institutions. The availability of patient health records electronically will help these hospitals to make pro-active decisions on resource allocations and patient care.
Benefits to the Specialist (Consultant) : The Specialist makes himself available across a distance at many e-clinics within the shortest possible time frame. This has the added impact of specialized care reaching out to the periphery. Needless to say that knowledge transfer occurs with benefit to the doctor at the peripheral e-clinic and a closer professional link is established between the specialist and the peripheral doctor. The “cachment area” for the specialist will definitely increase as he is virtually available to a larger population.
This project explores the benefits, issues and challenges in evolving healthcare methodology with regard to setting up of a realistic eHealth plan in a developing country. ICT in Health has evolved to bridge the gap between the urban healthcare specialist and their rural patients. Dr. Chapman assures that this approach will improve the quality of healthcare by way of enabling healthcare professionals to make better decisions on their patients wherever they are located in Sri Lanka.The concept can be applied to any sort of clinic be it medical, dermatological, ENT or any other field with some modifications to templates that will be used in the EMR.
The Launch of the Project on the 22nd of June 2009
According to Dr. Keith Chapman, “Vidu Suwa” is conceptually a mixture of the health sector working with the ICT researchers to bring relief to patients in the periphery facilitating the virtual presence of the Consultant and the Patient. This project highlights the importance of multidisciplinary projects with a view of solving real life problems of the society. The Vidu Suwa project is being implemented by four fourth year students of the Bachelor of Science (BICT) degree programme of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC), Miss Dinusha Vatsalan, Miss Saatviga Sudhahar, Miss Yvonne Wicramasinghe and Mr. Dulindra Wijetilleka, with the advice and guidance of Dr. Keith Chapman, Consultant Surgeon, Dr. Shiromi Arunatileka, Senior Lecturer/UCSC and Mr. Gihan Senevirathna, Head of the Department of Computation and Intelligent Systems, UCSC. The financial assistance for the “Vidu Suwa” project is from the e-Society programme of the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA). The connectivity for the Pilot project is generously offered by the Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT).
On the 22nd of June, 2009, Hon. Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, the Chief Guest, launched the project at a ceremony held at the Hotel Galadari, Colombo, Sri Lanka. The other Special invitees and Guest Speakers were Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Dr. Narendra Pinto, President of the College of Surgeons, Dr. Keith Chapman, Principle Author of the Vidu Suwa Concept, Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe, Director of UCSC and Mr. Reshan Dewapura, Chief Operating Officer of ICTA. A lot of distinguished guests from the health sector, the ICT Sector and media were present at the occasion.
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