When sickness strikes in the family, today’s Netizen rushes to the Internet rather than the neighbourhood doctor. Not surprising, if one wants only the best. Thanks to the Internet, telemedicine is a reality now. Telemedicine employs modern telecom & IT techniques for the provision of health care services—from a distance. It spans every echelon of health care—from the first emergency medical systems to tertiary medical specialty consultations and home care.

It uses computers to digitize medical images that are transmitted over telecom network for evaluation to a specialist located at a distant location. The transmission medium could vary from POTS to ISDN links. Now, the Internet is carrying variety of digitized images including X rays, ultrasounds, cytopathology or dermatology images captured with a digital camera. Thus, medical records and lab reports of patients in small towns can be sent electronically to specialist medical institutions for them to provide expert consultation, diagnosis, and treatment options. Emergency diagnosis and help can be quickly provided at the accident sites using remote devices. Telemedicine is thus helping to bring the best of health care to the remotest corner of the world. The patients are able to receive care in their homes, without having to leave home at all.

Though telemedicine has existed in rudimentary form for many years, only recently the Internet is enabling it to reach on-line specialist consultation in a cost-effective way. It enhances health care delivery system as well as helps reduce costs for both, the health care organizations, and the patients they serve.

Today, to find the right doctor, Delhiites—instead of scrounging through the Yellow pages—go to www.doctorsdelhi.com, Delhi’s information source of health care providers. These "interactive" site matches specific patient needs to the unique attributes of physicians and other health care providers.

The website is not limited to general practitioners, but also covers specialists, major nursing homes, dentists, cardiologists, neurosurgeons, nephrologists, and even nuclear medicine specialists. It is well organized with Delhi divided into zones. Apart from the allopathic practitioners, specialists in alternative medicine—homeopathy, naturopathy, acupuncture, ayurveda and accupressure—are also included. Those interested in Indian medicine can find a special section devoted to its history and present status. There is also a provision for the latest schedule of medical conferences and health meets. A boon for medical students, health reporters, and even the common Internet surfer—the Netizen—the site also offers articles by doctors on various fields apart from an interactive programme, where 12 ‘Do-it-yourself’ tips are offered to feel better and stay well. There is a complete list of pharmaceutical companies, chemists, healthcare resources and referral tips. For people looking for 24-hour chemist shops, there is a listing along with exhaustive information on diagnostic centres, eye banks, and cancer hospitals. The website also helps in getting the surfer in touch with blood banks, ambulance services and doctors from all over India. A boon in the time of crisis!

A Department of Electronics (DoE) project, costing about Rs 10 crore, is believed to shortly link three major northern referral centres-–the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute, Lucknow.

The system is planning for electronic transmission of clinical, pathological and diagnostic data like CAT scans, MRI, and ultrasound. Also it is planning for digital transmission of X-ray data, as well as images of blood slides captured using cameras attached to microscopes.

The Web has an amazing amount of medical information. However, there is a need to be careful. One needs to check the credibility of the source of information to avoid being misled.

Bill Gates in his latest book "Business @ the Speed of Thought" cites the examples of President Carter’s chief of staff, Hamilton Jordan, as well as Intel’s chairman, Andy Grove, who both faced prostate cancer. Both of them used the Web to collect information about prostate cancer and became experts on their illness. It helped them to take an active role in their treatments. After going on-line to see what information was available about the various medical approaches, Andy wrote his own comparative study using the raw data. Good medical advice was available to both. They made informed decisions for themselves through choosing different treatments for the same disease. Jordan chose surgery. While Grove chose a combination of general and smart bomb radiation therapy. Both did so successfully.

However, the Internet is much more than just medical information. It enables patients with common diseases to stay in touch with each other, and share their experiences. The many on-line forums make it easier for the world-wide community of patients to connect and relate to each other. It helps tremendously through on-line education of simple day-to-day matters like nutrition, pregnancy-care, family planning, eye care etc. for early prevention and diagnosis.

Internet’s "virtual reality" can create a sense of "being there" for patients and their families to visit the health care centre over the Internet and do a three-dimensional virtual walk-through of a medicare facility before deciding on it. They can attend presentations on different topics and meet other patients and their families on-line.

The patient is in control now!

By Niraj K.Gupta, Voice and Data, July 1999.