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Updates from the ISfTeH Global Digital Health Network (May 2020)
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Read in this issue about digital health in times of COVID-19, telemedicine in speech and hearing therapy, teledermatology resources, framework for digital health workforce development, online network of surgeons in trauma, webinars and events, and more.
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Letter from the Executive Director
Dear reader,
Just three short months after my January Letter from the Executive Director, the world has changed in unimaginable ways. In what nightmare would one have imagined that a new Coronavirus would spread like wildfire and wreak such havoc globally, on our health, our economies and our lives. But here we are at the end of April, with roughly three million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide and over two hundred thousand fatalities. And most alarmingly, the worst hit countries are the richest, and presumably the more resilient, health systems. One shudders to think what will happen in fragile health systems.
But the reaction in the vaccine research community has been swift. Oxford University in the UK started vaccine trials in humans, during the last week of April. Closer to home, in terms of our profession, the world has seen a spontaneous adoption of things "tele" - from the Greek, meaning "at a distance."
This may be born of necessity, given that many societies are on lockdown of one form or another, but it follows from historic declarations about telemedicine, eHealth, and most recently, digital health.
The World Health Assembly has adopted three key resolutions on: eHealth (2005); interoperability (2013) and Digital Health (2018). And in 2019, WHO published the first ever guidelines on digital health, with two of the ten recommendations focused on telemedicine. You know a medical practice has "arrived", when a WHO guideline is issued on its use.
Other significant fall-outs from this pandemic have been:
- Calls for telemedicine and telehealth by health system authorities, medical professional societies, and payors;
- Relaxation of previously stringent, and in some cases archaic, regulations on telemedicine interventions;
This has resulted in a plethora of telemedicine and telehealth offerings, with anecdotal evidence of benefits from many quarters.
In India, the Government has requested our national member association, the Telemedicine Society of India (TSI) to provide training on telemedicine to 500,000 clinicians. Coincidentally, in March 2019, McKinsey published "Digital India: Technology to transform a connected nation," in which they posit and quantify potential quality improvements and cost savings from telemedicine. "If telemedicine replaced 30 to 40% of in-person outpatient consultations, India could save up to $10 billion and improve care for the poor and those living in remote areas."
Given that telemedicine will improve access, this completes the three axes of the healthcare efficiency space - quality, access and cost. All of this can be seen as a global proof of concept for telehealth, and in general, doing as much as we can "at a distance." We believe COVID-19 has brought us to an inflexion point for takeoff in global adoption of telehealth.
And as to pandemics more specifically, in January 2018, Jonathan Quick published a book titled "The end of epidemics: the looming threat to humanity and how to stop it." Quick asserts, "We can end epidemics with seven sets of concrete actions proven over a century of epidemic response." He calls these, collectively, "The Power of Seven."
- Ensuring bold leadership at all levels;
- Building resilient health systems;
- Fortifying three lines of defense against disease (prevention, detection, and response);
- Ensuring timely and accurate communication;
- Investing in smart innovation;
- Spending wisely to prevent disease before an epidemic strikes; and
- Mobilizing citizen activism.
Whereas, telehealth can play a key role in action types 2, 3 and 4, our Society can serve as a catalyst for action type 7. And that is precisely what we are doing, beginning with a focus on the digital health community. Our plan is a call to action of the entire ISfTeH community to proceed on three fronts.
Action research
- Identify community needs that can be addressed through telehealth.
- Collect and curate information on telehealth and digital health tools and platforms that are currently in use.
- Identify what is in preparation in terms of relevant innovation throughout the digital health ecosystem.
Share information and knowledge
- Disseminate curated information and knowledge on telehealth and digital health tools and platforms for supporting the fight against the Coronavirus.
- Raise awareness of the Society as a resource in this global effort.
- On this front, the following pieces are already in place:
- Special member announcements to disseminate breaking news on relevant topics.
- Publicity (social media, digital print, conferences) e-mails from the ISfTeH Secretariat for relevant meetings, webinars, upcoming conferences listed on the ISfTeH website.
- Webinars (multi-national speakers and participants).
Provide expertise
Provide expertise through the creation of a Marketplace where supply and demand for, and supply of expertise can find each other and those with expertise can propose their services. The way forward and immediate next steps, consist in galvanizing the knowledge and know-how of the Society into a coherent whole that can provide useful information and tools to the world, and thus help us fulfill our mission of "Facilitating the international dissemination of knowledge and experience in Telemedicine and eHealth and providing access to expertise in the field worldwide." This is an article of faith, like a beacon or north star, that guides the ISfTeH community.
What can you do? Join us in this effort of knowledge sharing, and citizen mobilization. And if you wonder what you as an individual can contribute, Margaret Mead could not have put it any better than in her famous saying, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
This has been an unusually long letter. But, the times - they are not just "a-changin" - they are drastically different. Be well, stay safe!
Prof. S. Yunkap Kwankam
Executive Director
International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth
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ISfTeH COVID-19 information, resources and webinars
The ISfTeH website features information, experiences, solutions and resources - from its members and partners - in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The page also lists a wide range of talks and webinars that have been given or that are coming up in the next weeks.
The page will continuously be updated as new information and new webinar dates become available. Check back regularly!
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Join the largest network of surgeons in trauma: myAO
Since its launch in December 2019, already 10'000 users joined myAO which is the digital community of the AO, a not-for-profit organization which for 60 years has been a leader in the field of treating trauma and musculoskeletal disorders. With personalized knowledge, critical insights from clinical experts, verified videos on demand and a truly global network of surgeons, myAO is the most relevant platform for orthopedic matters.
Join myAO.app now and enjoy all content and features offered for free. You find the desktop version here and download the mobile app here.
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Enabling multi-level response to COVID-19 with eHealth platform solutions
The spread of COVID-19 around the world presents huge challenges to the health care systems and disease outbreak management. Some countries and regions can build on strong information and healthcare systems whereas others, particularly resource poor areas are highly vulnerable.
ISfTeH member SATMED provides a multi-level software-as-a-service eHealth platform owned by the Government of Luxembourg aimed to help healthcare providers make better use of information technology and mobile health solutions specifically in remote and underdeveloped areas. It is in operation since 2014, has been tested in cooperation with several partner NGOs incl. CURE, Friendship, German Doctors, Archemed, and has been installed in hospitals, remote medical centers and hospital ships in multiple locations across Africa and Asia Pacific, after its initial roll out in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak.
In the light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government of Luxembourg will make the access to the SATMED platform available free of charge for healthcare professionals' community of selected health organisations to fight the pandemic. All eHealth applications integrated within the platform are license free. The SATMED interface is easy and intuitive to use & all applications are accessible by a single sign on. With a software as a service (SaaS) licensing and delivery/distribution model the platform is immediately accessible from any device with an internet connection and a web browser. Cloud data storage capabilities are provided (hosted in Luxembourg), compliant with data protection regulations.
SATMED can be used to provide:
- Teleconsultation service as public health measure
- Teleradiology services for remote chest image reading
- Automated messaging service for distribution of patients' test results, updates and alerts
- Hospital Information Systems (HIS) for provisional health centers
- Outbreak management with Geographical Tracking and Mapping
For more information and subscription request contact SATMED here.
You can also download the above info as a pdf here.
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South Africa's first digital primary healthcare service launches telehealth app
The Medical Society teleHealth department (ISfTeH member) offers affordable primary health care services to its members telephonically. The Medical Society is now launching an app that allows medical professionals to diagnose patients by means of digital based portals.
It was imperative to include in the scope of the app, compliant internal system integrations including:
- Comprehensive automated health records, which will expand patient management.
- A combined platform for the health sectors' information system, which will ensure interoperability and the linking of existing patient information structures.
- To boost high impact mobile health for community-based involvement. Contained in the framework of the NHI, it will increase health care coverage to all communities such as the elderly, children, women and those situated in the more rural areas.
The Medical Society app will benchmark remote consultations in the primary healthcare sphere in South Africa. Offering members digital consultations that include a prescription and a sick note. This development shows the use of digital technologies for health in ways that facilitate access to care and service delivery, improve effectiveness and efficiency, and promote accountability.
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Digital radio broadcasting enables transmission of images and video on a global scale via land-based radio stations
Titus SDR offers a solution for digital radio broadcasting enabling transmission of images and video clips across 1000+ kilometers. Information (sound, images, data) can be distributed on a global scale via land-based radio stations.
The Titus II unit developed by Titus SDR is the world's most advanced digital software-defined visual radio unit capable of receiving over-the-air digital multimedia data (sound, text/data, images, video clips) in the low to very high conventional radio frequencies range (100KHz to 150 MHz) over long distances (1000+ Km). Land-based broadcasting stations are exclusively used (no satellites, cell phone, internet, TV). The Titus unit is an ICT advanced product enabling the broadcast across-the-world of diversified contents (*) in multiple languages over very vast areas (million+ square kilometers) where communication infrastructures are poorly/not developed or simply unaffordable. For example, most of the West Africa population can receive freely sound, images and videos on a solar-powered TV connected to a Titus receiver as groups in a class room-like environment or individually on a Titus unit.
Titus-SDR is in position of delivering promptly a comprehensive transmitter-receivers package for the broadcast of NGO-chosen eHealth programs over selected vast geographical areas. In the current coronavirus pandemic, this solution can provide critical health information and advice to people in underserved and remote areas. For more info, contact Pier Benci.
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Telehealth becomes vital in tackling COVID-19
ISfTeH member, Malcolm Fisk, talks on telehealth responses to COVID-19 in Australia, USA and UK and whether existing telehealth infrastructures are prepared to face the COVID-19 pandemic. Malcolm is Senior Researcher at the De Montfort University Leicester, United Kingdom and is part of the roster of experts that advises the World Health Organization on telehealth and digital health.
The most important insights from the interview:
- Globally, telehealth received a big push after the outbreak of COVID-19.
- However, only some of the more scarcely populated regions were already used to remote patient-doctor consultations.
- Still, telehealth may become a building block of healthcare systems after the crisis - but only if we design an inclusive infrastructure, which takes the heterogeneity of patients' and doctors' needs very seriously.
The interview was conducted by LIVING INNOVATION (LIV_IN), an EU funded initiative that aims to develop responsible, smart home solutions that tackle societal challenges and respond to pressing societal trends. The initiative involves industry leaders that engage with lead users in co-creation processes to create solutions that meet user needs and leverage collective creativity to uncover new business opportunities.
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NurseUps: sharing nursing experiences and challenges
NurseUps has been founded this year by ISfTeH member Ralueke Ekezie, a nurse entrepreneur and researcher. Due to the global COBID-19 crisis, a video platform was developed for nurses to share their views, experiences and challenges at their work place and to show how they are contributing in their own individual ways towards the fight against the spread of COVID-19.
A example of one of those videos can be found here.
NurseUps invites all nurses who are in one way or the other engaged in activities relating to the COVID-19 pandemic - whether it is administratively, hands-on or research - to share their experiences. Submit a video here, or e-mail NurseUps for more info.
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PlatformUptake: supporting open service platforms for active and healthy ageing
PlatformUptake, an EU funded project, is working to deliver an inventory of the state of the art and analyse the use of open service platforms in the active and healthy ageing domain, covering both open platforms - such as universAAL, FIWARE - and partly open/proprietary platforms developed by industry, and address the interactions between these platforms.
In order to measure the impacts of such platforms and enhance their uptake, PlatformUptake presents a methodology for monitoring open platform development, adoption and spread across Europe, by listing key factors that determine success or hindrance in their uptake by the end-user groups, and also the evolution of their ecosystems and stakeholder networks.
Currently, PlatformUptake is in the process of identifying critical success factors of the development, deployment and spread of open platforms in the active and healthy ageing domain.
Register for the PlatformUptake newsletter here to stay updated with news of the project and other relevant active and healthy ageing (AHA) and active assisted living (AAL) news and upcoming events. Or contact PlatformUptake if you are providing open platforms or if you develop AHA/AAL solutions and want to know more about such platforms.
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Women's health in times of the COVID-19 pandemic
WoW also reports that One World Medical Network (OWMN)
offers the free use of the doctor-to-doctor collaborative telemedicine platform Case.io which will allow doctors in need to share patient cases, add forms which can be filled and signed online for data collection, statistical use and epidemiology. Using the video conference module is included as well. All features may be used on a PC, tablet or smartphone. No installation necessary, register and start working. Get access to your free version here.
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Inpatient teledermatology resources
The COVID-19 global epidemic has increased the need for inpatient care not only for pulmonologists and intensivists but all specialties, including dermatology. Teledermatology is increasingly being utilized for the evaluation and management of dermatologic disorders and conditions especially in regions where a local dermatologist is not available. The ISfTeH Teledermatology Working Group has compiled a list of recent scientific literature regarding inpatient teledermatology for your reading and use.
- Weig EA, Tull R, Chung J, Wanat KA. Inpatient teledermatology: Current state and practice gaps. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019 Jul 12. pii: S0190-9622(19)32370-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2019.07.013. [Epub ahead of print]
- Barbieri JS, Nelson CA, James WD, Margolis DJ, Littman-Quinn R, Kovarik CL, Rosenbach M. The reliability of teledermatology to triage inpatient dermatology consultations. JAMA Dermatol. 2014 Apr;150(4):419-24. doi: 10.1001/jamadermatol.2013.9517.
- Keller JJ, Johnson JP, Latour E. Inpatient teledermatology: Diagnostic and therapeutic concordance among a hospitalist, dermatologist, and teledermatologist using store-and-forward teledermatology. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020 Jan 20. pii: S0190-9622(20)30081-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.01.030. [Epub ahead of print].
- van der Heijden JP, Spuls PI, Voorbraak FP, de Keizer NF, Witkamp L, Bos JD. Tertiary teledermatology: a systematic review. Telemed J E Health. 2010 Jan-Feb;16(1):56-62. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2009.0020.
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In times of coronavirus, eConsults, telehealth provide a novel answer
In a recent Times of India article, Prof. K. Ganapathy, Director of ISfTeH member Apollo Telehealth Services, shares thoughts on how virtual consultations and treatments emerge as safer alternatives in takcling Covid-19.
"India has a shortage of healthcare providers, and if they themselves need to be quarantined, it could lead to a disastrous situation. A major part of managing coronavirus is keeping sick people out of hospitals. Telemedicine is a safety valve for our strained healthcare system. Virtual visits can be an effective way to decide who needs to be tested for Covid-19. About 5% to 10% of the population will require some sort of healthcare services at any given time. Enforced mass quarantine will make it very difficult for those with non-Covic-19 health issues to visit hospitals," says Ganapathy.
Read the full article here.
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Telemedicine solutions in hearing and speech pathology and therapy
In Poland, ISfTeH member The Center of Hearing and Speech 'MEDINCUS', continues to offer important services in the field of hearing and speech therapy, in these corona times when seeing a doctor or visiting a medical clinic is not possible or allowed. What to do if a child has an earache or sinusitis? MEDINCUS offers a wide range of telemedical solutions available over the internet or by telephone. Its nationwide network continues to provide medical assistance for patients while ensuring safe working conditions for staff. Patients can have telephone or video medical advice with otorhinolaryngologists, pediatric otorhinolaryngologists, audiologists, phoniatrists or speech therapists, psychologists or pedagogues. The medical professionals will give advice, issue an ePrescription, eSick note or an eReferral for an actual in-person visit to a MEDINCUS Center if the patient's health condition requires it.
Just before the outbreak of the pandemic in Europe and the start of lockdown measures, World Hearing Day was celebrated (March 3rd) to raise awareness on how to prevent deafness and hearing loss and promote ear and hearing care across the world. On this occasion, the MEDINCUS branch network, in partnership with the Institute of Sensory Organs, organized free of charge
preventive tests using The Senses Examination Platform
. The platform is based on the advanced, central computer system and netbooks provided with the audiometric earphones and the button of a tested person. The computers communicate with the central database by internet. The device makes it possible to perform the following tests:
- audiometric test
- hearing screening test
- speech screening test
- visual screening test
- audiological questionnaire
- DDT test
- GDT test
On World Hearing Day 2020, 1118 patients were examined in the twelve largest cities in Poland. Almost half of them were children. Hearing loss was found in most patients who volunteered for testing, so that provided good proof that the action was needed.
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International Digital Health Forum sets goals for digital health development in Africa
Held in Hammamet, Tunisia at the end of February, and gathering more than 300 participants, the 5th International Digital Health Forum (5ème Forum International de la Santé Numérique), chaired by Prof. Aziz El Matri, President of the Tunisian Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeh national member for Tunisia), outlined a number of important current practices and needs for future international collaboration for the African continent:
- recognizing and sharing existing kills, information and knowledge resources between African countries,
- identify the obstacles to institutional reform and the deployment of digital health applications included in numerous national strategic digital transformation strategies,
- reinforce and enhance South/South and South/North cooperation,
- promote a large investment in training programs pedagogically adapted digital health technologies while targeting youth and employment, taking into account the challenges ahead on the African continent.
An important event to drive some of the above goals forward, will be the next summit of the heads of state of the OIF (Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie), which is currently still scheduled for December 2020 in Tunis, with the central theme being "digital as a vector of development and solidarity in the Francophone area."
In the meantime, the current COVID-19 pandemic is acting as a catalyst and accelerator for:
- the deployment and use of adapted digital health technologies and services,
- epidemiological health data knowledge networking and sharing in real time,
- revisiting our international collaboration strategies.
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Application for international master in digital health at DIT-ECRI opens
The Master of Science in Medical Informatics (MMI) at European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen - a branch of the Deggendorf University of Applied Sciences (DIT) in Bavaria, Germany - is now accepting applications for entry in October 2020.
An innovative, uniquely interdisciplinary, international and multicultural study program focusing on Digital Health, taught exclusively in English with no tuition fees, offers excellent and motivated graduates of biomedical and computer science disciplines from around the world, an exclusive opportunity to immerse in a highly professional and dynamic, diverse and multicultural, hard-working and proactive Digital Health community right in the center of Europe, with unparalleled possibilities for studying, researching and networking, and excellent career prospects, - an opportunity to specialize in a field that is revolutionizing healthcare, medicine, and the entire society.
Don't miss your unique chance to become a specialist of the future, and to join a cohort of professionals who will be shaping the world of healthcare in the decades to come! With the surge of need for Digital Health at the times of pandemics like COVID-19, your future profession is becoming especially relevant!
The application period is open until July 15, 2019.
Details on the study program and application procedure can be found here.
Short introductory video on the study program can be viewed here.
Testimonials by MMI/ECRI students and alumni can be reviewed here and here.
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Framework for Global Digital Health Workforce Development
A digitally skilled workforce is a crucial ingredient for organizations undertaking a digital transformation to realize expected benefits in both operational efficiency and customer experience.
In the absence of human resources, digital health is not likely to reach the level of adoption it needs. Hence, the ISfTeH Capacity Building WG has developed a list of human resources that would be needed over the next decade in order to take digital health at scale.
Your comments and suggestions on this
framework are very welcome. Contact
Prof. Rajendra Gupta, Chair of the Capacity Building WG, for more info or to provide your input.
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American TelePhysicians providing telemedicine online clinic platform free of cost
ISfTeH member, American TelePhysicians, provides a telemedicine/online clinic platform, SmartClinix, which is being used by various hospitals and clinics in the US but also by large healthcare organizations both in the US and abroad. They have recently partnered with Aids HealthCare Foundation to make their US based clinics go online. They are also providing their SmartClinix solutions to many charity clinics free of cost during this Covid-19 pandemic.
If your organization is a charity clinic or similar organization and are in need of telemedicine/online clinic solutions, American Telephysicians are willing to see what they can do and offer you their platform free of cost.
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Rising up to face the coronavirus with telemedicine
Telemedicine and telehealth solutions are quickly being leveraged - more than ever before - to help build a support system throughout the patient and medical provider communities. Virtual healthcare technologies are critical in times like these to enable healthcare systems to treat their patients and protect their providers. Several healthcare organizations are now rising up and taking action to make sure their medical providers are healthy and those that get exposed can continue to deliver care remotely. If the medical staff cannot deliver care, it will bring a healthcare system to its knees! Virtual care protects and empowers medical providers so they can continue to deliver care.
During the SARS outbreak in 2002, one-fifth of all cases were in health care workers. If they start to get sick in high numbers during a disease outbreak, it amplifies the already high levels of strain on the health care system.
A key component of any telehealth or telemedicine platform that is used to face the Coronavirus, is enabling a provider to do patient consults remotely, with specialized medical devices for a full clinical assessment. More than just laying eyes on a patient through video conferencing; effective COVID-19 screening and treatment requires the ability for a provider to "drive" the medical consultation remotely and view and see live streaming medical images, x-rays, vital signs and heart/lung sounds.
ISfTeH member AMD Global Telemedicine can help to architect a telemedicine and telehealth solution that addresses specific challenges as they relate to the coronavirus, from online virtual care platforms to live streaming of medical images and reports. For more information, contact AMD.
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Lean Health introduces 'Hospital at Home' remote tracking in Portugal
ISfTeH member Lean Health is introducing a 'Hospital at Home' remote tracking and monitoring service in collaboration with Vodafone IoT to assist coronavirus patients at home in Portugal. Obviously, the solution is usable in other situations too.
Hospital at home assistance needs to grow, to take control of patients outside of the hospitals and help them to recover at home. This kind of initiatives will reduce costs, decrease side effects from hospitalization, improve patient recovery.
In this Hospital at Home initiative, each patient receives a 'H@H' kit including a hub that links up all devices, tablet (to allow patients and care teams to establish connections and get the vital measurements done), sphygmomanometer, oximeter, glucometer, thermometer, weight scale, emergency response system/button. And video call will be enabled soon as well. Currently, 10 kits have already been provided to 2 institutions.
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Corporate member spotlight - RNK Pro
ducts (Telehealth Technologies)
Based out of Florida, RNK Products, home of Telehealth Technologies, is a manufacturer of telehealth medical devices and a leader in telemedicine stethoscopes. As a technology driven organization, RNK is also able to offer consumer-based telehealth solutions with medical devices at consumer-based pricing. Having both FDA approval and ISO 13485 certifications, RNK operates globally.
RNK has the most telemedicine stethoscopes in use across the world, and can be found in top hospitals, such as the Mayo Clinic and government agencies, including the Veterans Administration (VA). Even President Trump has been seen touting a telemedicine solution with RNK's stethoscope in the White House and on Air Force One.
Key offerings:
Telemedicine Stethoscopes
- PCP-1 - This stethoscope uses a chest piece with a special sensor and amplifier that plugs into the Microphone port (3.5 mm stereo mic connector) of a PC, tablet and some phones.
- PCP-USB - This stethoscope uses a chest piece that includes an embedded amplifier plus an A/D Converter, Encoder, Formatter and USB interface that is recognized as a plug-n-play audio device.
OEM & Private Label Capabilities
- Our technology and manufacturing methods enable us to easily provide private label and OEM capabilities for Value Added Resellers (VARs).
Concierge Telemedicine (CTM)
- RNK's sister organization, Telemedicine Web Services (TMCS), a telemedicine technology company, offers the Concierge Telemedicine (CTM) system to offer fully integrated medical devices that offer clinic level performance at consumer prices.
While telemedicine became mainstream with the respiratory disease Covid-19, it also became apparent that a video call isn't enough for a real assessment. A telemedicine stethoscope is needed for reliable diagnosis and monitoring. History will look back at Covid-19 as the turning point for telemedicine and RNK is proud to arm clinicians with the key device, the telemedicine stethoscope, needed to help fight the pandemic.
Founded by C.R. (Rich) Abbruscato in 2003, who designed one of the first remote auscultation stethoscopes in the telemedicine industry, and was awarded the first US patent for a telemedicine stethoscope. His expertise and knowledge in the field is unparalleled. Rich Abbruscato is also involved in RNK's sister company, Telemedicine Web Services (TMCS) that offers the Concierge Telemedicine (CTM) system. CTM is a clinic level solution including video and medical devices, but at consumer prices.
As a pioneer in telemedicine, RNK's longevity and success is due to delivering high quality, high performance products while fulfilling the technology needs of today and tomorrow.
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National member spotlight - Czech Society for Biomedical Engineering & Medical Informatics
The Czech Society for Biomedical Engineering and Medical Informatics is a non-profit scientific and educational organization in the field of medical, clinical and biological engineering and medical informatics. It is a member society of the Czech Medical Association of Jan Evangelista Purkynje. It joins together physicians, biomedical engineers, medical and health care informaticians and other professionals from related areas. The Society aims at encouraging research and the application of knowledge, and to disseminate information both to professionals and general public, and promote collaboration.
The Society's main aims are to:
- Foster interdisciplinary research activities comprising medicine/biology and engineering sciences and informatics (both in basic and applied research)
- Provide platform for joint activities of the Society members, inform about latest development and events in the field
- Support organization of conferences and workshops
- Actively participate in negotiations on legislative issues on the ministerial level in favour of the Society members and research and educational institutions working in the area of biomedical engineering and medical informatics
- Develop job profiles for biomedical engineers
- Develop guidelines for under- and postgraduate education and lifelong learning in biomedical engineering and medical informatics
- Support and develop publishing activities - the Society has its own journal "Physician and technician" and closely cooperates with the official European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI) journal "European Journal for Biomedical Informatics"
Since 2014 two board members have been members of the Working Group of the Czech Medical Society for preparation of the eHealth strategy in the Czech Republic. After designing the concept and basic principles, the documents were handed over to the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. When the Ministry developed a detailed strategy, the WG members were asked to perform a critical review of the strategy. Finally, the strategy was adopted by the government. However, activity of the Working Group of the Czech Medical Society continues and its main focus is on critical review of documents connected with eHealth that are being prepared by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and its institutions. In 2019, the new law on electronic health was prepared by the Ministry and reviewed by the professional medical societies, including the Czech Society for Biomedical Engineering and Medical Informatics.
The Czech Society for Biomedical Engineering and Medical Informatics is a national member of ISfTeH, EFMI,
International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE).
CSBMEMI actively cooperates with various national institutions and societies related to the field of medicine, health, IT, education, etc. The most important ones are:
- Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic
- HL7 Czech Republic
- Czech Technical University in Prague
- Charles University in Prague and University Hospitals
- Czech Academy of Sciences
- Czech Society for Medical Technology
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Upcoming ISfTeH supported meetings and conferences
ISfTeH Events:
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25th ISfTeH International Conference
8-10 October 2020
Takasaki, Japan
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ISfTeH Supported Events:
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Ethical Benchmarks for Digital Health (DigiHealthDay 2020 Webinar)
4-5 May 2020
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Health Data Forum (Online Summit)
7-8 May 2020
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Data Integration and Interoperability (DigiHealthDay 2020 Webinar)
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Introduction to Amazon Web Services (DigiHealthDay 2020 Webinar)
18 May 2020
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MedFIT 2020
15-16 September 2020
Grenoble, France
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eHealth 2020 - 25th Finnish National Conference on Telemedicine/eHealth
30 September - 2 October 2020
Helsinki, Finland
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2nd Global Summit Telemedicine & Digital Health
13-15 October 2020
São Paulo, Brazil
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DigiHealthDay 2020
13 November 2020
Pfarrkirchen, Germany
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Telemedicon 2020
20-22 November 2020
Lucknow, India
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AgeingFit 2021
26-27 January 2021
Lille, France
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XXXV World Congress of Audiology
18-21 April 2021
Warsaw, Poland
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ISfTeH Supported Events Calendar
and
Other Telemedicine/eHealth Events
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New ISfTeH members
The ISfTeH is pleased to welcome the following new members into its global network:
Corporate & Startup Members:
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RNK Products Inc. (Telehealth Technologies), USA
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The Medical Society, South Africa
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eKlinic (Life Evergreen International), USA
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Institutional Members:
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Wazin, Kuwait
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Individual Members:
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Abdullah
Alenezi
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Kuwait
Rohin Rameswarapu, UAE.
Anthony Paulo Sunjaya, Australia
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Michael
Miller
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United Kingdom
Micaela
Seemann Monteiro
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Portugal
Aaron Martin, USA
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Jay Sanders, USA
Pier Benci, USA
Molly Miller, USA
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| Nurse Members: |
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Michaela Skorupova, Czech Republic
Manish Kumar Goyal, India
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Victoria Adams, USA
Kristen Knowles, USA
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Student Members:
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Morgan Malovich, USA
Jennifer Lloyd, USA
Shelby Kloosterboer, USA
SanaBughio, Pakistan
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Ikenna Ikeliani, Germany
Katelyn Curtis, USA
Janitzia Macias, USA
Nisha Iqbal
, Pakistan
Koushil Majumder, Bangladesh
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Lauren Evoniuk, USA
Madeleine Moore, USA
Kara Wertz, USA
Piyush Kumar, India
Elvis Offor, Germany
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Click here for full member list or to join as a new member
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Join the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth and participate in ISfTeH Working Groups
- Are you heading a national or regional telemedicine/eHealth organization?
- Do you offer telemedicine products and solutions?
- Are you doing research on telemedicine and eHealth applications and technologies?
- Does your organization provide (or wants to offer) care services by means of telemedicine/eHealth technologies?
- Are you engaged in healthcare policy?
If so, you should consider joining the ISfTeH network to expand your global reach, enhance your network, broaden your knowledge and learn about key issues and new ideas in telemedicine and eHealth by interacting and engaging in partnerships with other ISfTeH members from around the world.
As a member, you will also be able to participate in or actively contribute to the ISfTeH Working Groups (WGs), or start up new initiatives. Current WGs include among others Open Source Software, Chronic Disease Management, Social Media, Telenursing, Students, Women and eHealth, Tele-audiology, Telecardiology, Teledentistry, Teledermatology, Tele-urology. Contact info@isfteh.org if you are interested in any of these topics or want to join a Working Group.
Or if you are interested in obtaining exposure in future editions of this newsletter (through advertising, feature articles, etc.), contact us at info@isfteh.org.
For more information: www.isfteh.org
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Partners & Corporate Members
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Questions, suggestions? Our board members listen to you!
The ISfTeH board members will be pleased to hear from you with any questions or suggestions you may have related to the Society itself or regarding any telemedicine and eHealth applications or services that you are working on or that you are looking for:
Management Board
Submit your questions/suggestions via info@isfteh.org.
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ISfTeH Lifetime Achievement Awards
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