Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
IT to play major role in healthcare — experts
By Reem Halasa
AMMAN — Information technology will play a key role in improving the Kingdom's healthcare sector over the next few years, health experts said on Monday.The experts, taking part in a two-day workshop on e-healthcare at the Royal Scientific Society (RSS), said IT has already facilitated communication means and the spread of information, enabling health workers to exchange expertise.
“The electronic communication devices facilitate easy spread of information between healthcare workers and patients across the country and the world,” explained Riyyad Batikhi, director of dental corps at the Royal Medical Services.
Online consultation and conferences between healthcare and medical specialists are now widely available, he added.
The most recent breakthrough in e-health is Telesurgery, cited Freid Oelshlegel, resident professor at the Jordan University of Science and Technology.
“Telesurgery utilises computer-controlled robot technology, and the cooperation of highly-specialised doctors and technicians,” Oelshlegel explained.
The operation itself is not different from the conventional one. However, in Tele-surgery, a robot is controlled by a surgeon — who needs not be present in the operation theatre — by the use of a `joy-stick' and a special steering console, he added.
The first worldwide experience with Telesurgery, according to Oelshlegel, was on June 16, 1998, in the Leipzig Heart Centre — a specialised university hospital in Germany.
The procedure was the first bypass operation with a robot system called “Da Vinci,” and the distance between the surgeon and the patient was about 12 metres, Oelshlegel said.
Till now, there is no proof that Telesurgery could be used to make medical care accessible to remote areas, because there are many technical and economic issues to consider, he said.
“Health insurance companies worldwide are wary about this new technology, because of the technical and investment risks involved,” he pointed out
But Telesurgery will prove useful as a global system in emergencies, especially because it is hard for the growing world population to have access to medical and surgical help, he commented.
However, a group of doctors and technicians should be present in the background during a surgery in case something goes wrong, he added.
Telemedicine fields, including Telesurgery, Tele-diagnosis, Telecare and monitoring, could contribute to improving the quality of medical care especially for the rural populations, he concluded.
“It is also an opportunity to promote cooperation between IT and healthcare institutions in Europe and the Mediterranean countries, organisers said.
Yesterday, participants toured hospitals in Amman and Irbid: the King Abdullah Hospital, Al Arabi and Al Bashir.
The event is organised by RSS, in cooperation with “MEDRESSA II” — an EU- funded IT project.
The MEDRESSA project seeks to bring together potential partners in the IT and healthcare sector from around Europe and the Mediterranean, providing them with contacts and assistance.