A simple and low-cost Internet-based teleconsultation system that could effectively solve the health care access problems in underserved areas of developing countries

KUNTALP M., Akar O.

COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE, vol.75, no.2, pp.117-126, 2004 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 75 Issue: 2
  • Publication Date: 2004
  • Doi Number: 10.1016/j.cmpb.2003.11.004
  • Journal Name: COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.117-126
  • Keywords: teleconsultation, medical informatics, PHP, MySQL, MONITORING-SYSTEM, ECG
  • Dokuz Eylül University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

In many developing countries including Turkey, telemedicine systems are not in wide use due to the high cost and complexity of the required technology. Lack of these systems however has serious implications on patients who live in rural areas. The objective of this paper is to present a simple and economically affordable alternative to the current systems that would allow experts to easily access the medical data of their remote patients over the Internet. The system is developed in client-server architecture with a user-friendly graphical interface and various services are implemented as dynamic web pages based on PHR The other key features of the system are its powerful security features and platform independency. An academic prototype is implemented and presented to the evaluation of a group of physicians. The results reveal that the system could find acceptance from the medical community and it could be an effective means of providing quality health care in developing countries. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.