Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Telemedicine working in Europe

|
|
 
  
Published: June 1, 2006 at 5:53 PM

BARBASTRO, Spain, June 1 (UPI) -- Doctors in Spain, Italy and Denmark have begun using a telecounseling service to help treat elderly patients who have difficulty traveling.

Using a telelaboratory service that allows patient test samples to be analyzed remotely, the Internet-based HEALTH OPTIMUM solutions are saving doctors time, public healthcare systems are saving money and patients are receiving better coordinated and better quality care, according to Dr. Javier Marco, who checks on his patients using a computer with a videoconferencing link.

"At first, patients were surprised when they went to their local doctor's office and I was able to talk to them and see them over a computer, but surprise turned to satisfaction when they realized they wouldn't have to come to the hospital," said Marco. "Barbastro -- where Marco has his practice works -- is the only hospital for a widely distributed population and the winters are hard and the roads can be bad."

Remote analysis equipment allows primary healthcare professionals to take samples of a patient's blood or urine and analyze the samples on the spot.

© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Chicago Auto Show The making of the Oscars Mercedes-Benz fashion week In New York
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China The White House Science Fair Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade
Additional Health News Stories
1 of 20
Syrian protests continue
View Caption
fark
Survey finds that men are quick to fall in love, roll over and fall asleep
Nerdiest sport ever: Combat juggling
Photoshop this topless athlete
Man rejects girlfriend's noodles, says toodles by leaving her in poodle of blood. Oodles of boodle...
Mormons tried to posthumously baptize Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel but were...
School principals should probably have background checks processed on them before they are hired...or...