Implementation of Telemedicine Specialized Appointment in Eastern Amazon State of Pará

Abstract

Introduction: Telemedicine program was first implemented in Brazil in 2007, by Health Ministry Decret, in which was set the goals of the program: permanent education and changes in medical work. After some reformulations of the program it was also included primary health care based specialized medical consultations, through the guarantee of health services such as teleconsultancy, telediagnosis and tele education; centered at universities and major health centers, after what it became to be known as Nacional Program Telehealth Brazil Network. Brazil’s North Region is the largest amongst all of its regions (3 853 676,948 km²) but with the smaller demographic density (4,72 hab./‎km²), also with irregular populational distribution, which is concentrated at shore or riverside urban centers. Telemedicine was implemented as a way in trying to provide universal health access to the whole population. Method: Various Municipal Health Secretariats underwent agreements in order to establish a integrated and specialized medical consultancy network, using teleconference technologies and online pronctuary to accomplish it, allowing a specialized doctor located at the capital to guide and observe a generalist medic through the physical examination and therapeutic conduction. The system kept register of consultations to the ones who had its secret passwords. Results/Discussion: Telemedicine system was able to cover an area of up to 36.133.135 km2, allow up to 674.770 people to have access to specialized health, perform 1125 medical consultations in seven months; which diminished the queue from five years to three months of waiting for clinical examination. In addition, the consultations have kept a good quality for the whole health team and the patients, who could receive correct diagnosis on the first consult most of the times, as well as received longitudinal attendance. Conclusion: Telemedicine is an effective, secure and revolutionary alternative to grant universal health access to distant populations.