SAPA Tele-medicine Service
Telemedicine, a term coined in the 1970s, which literally means “healing at a distance”
The World Health Organization has adopted the following broad description:
The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.
Before the former totalitarian regime health care was provided largely free of charge in governmental facilities. The former regime pursued a policy of privatization and foster a culture of impunity leading to flourishing corruption coupled with the workforce depletion by severe brain drain due to low wages and poor-quality training opportunity had devastating effects on the public health-care system.
Critical care service was not spared, currently there are less than 200 Units Intensive Care ICU beds in the entire country and experience critical care attendings can be counted on one hand through partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health and by using remote video and voice technology, as part of SAPA telemedicine service tele-ICU shall leverage critical care expertise while striving to improve patient outcomes through the consistent use of evidence-based medicine in collaboration with the ICU clinical teams.
The board of directors is pleased to announce that SAPA have signed Memorandum of understanding with Khartoum and Al-Jazeera State Ministry of Health.
OVERALL PROJECT GOALS
- The tele-ICU project shall fill the gaps in the ICU availability and to leverage existing intensivists resources to improve patient outcomes and cost savings.
- The tele-ICU project shall provide a collaborative multidisciplinary consultation platform.
RESPONSIBILTIES
Per this agreement SAPA will allocate board certified ICU physicians to provide the second opinion for the primary physicians staffing the ICU, this Tele-ICU staffing module is designated to support and supplement the plan of care of the attending physician on record.
The ministry of health will provide the legal frame work, the platform and technical support for the service.
Although currently limited to Tele-ICU this collaboration can be expanded to other medical specialties such as Cardiology, Infectious disease, Internal Medicine, Nephology, Neurology etc., upon interest of both parties.