3.1 eCardiology

The field cardiology was selected for the pilot implementation because coronary heart diseases are the most expensive diseases in term of re-hospitalisation in the USA and Europe as well. eHealth structures support small hospitals, family doctors and ambulance services. The same telecardiological eHealth solution can be applied and experienced in three fields: home care, second opinion from experts across the network (national and transnational) and patient hospital relation. The pilot implementation in the field of eCardiology aims to home care and/or for monitoring high risk patients waiting for an invasive diagnostic or bypass operation.

Partners: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden

Overall Objectives:

• implementation of ECG solution in Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden
• better health care in remote areas and urban areas
• to enhance the patient comfort in terms of confidence, security and mobility
• more effective management of patients with known heart disease and to provide the appropriate care level to the patients
• less number of visits to health institutions (primary care centre, specialist department), reduction of pre-hospital delay and to save hospital capacities

Methodology and Transnational Value Added:

• Either medical staff like home nurses or patients are equipped with ECG devices according to the partner region (see implementation status below).
• After recording an ECG the transmission of the ECG records is organised cross-border via telephone calls from medical staff or patients in different countries to a multilingual server located in Bad Segeberg, Germany. The ECGs and patient data is transferred via Internet to medical specialists in the different countries where the call came from to decide about appropriate treatment.
• The calls for medical staff and patients are via a toll free line. The project partners pay a monthly fee per ECG device including the server based services.
• The sharing of a server located in Germany and buying the related services cross-border avoid investments in the partner regions.

Status of Implementation:

• Region Skåne: home nurses equipped with 35 devices (see video)
• Kaunas Region: 15 patients waiting for heart operations equipped with 15 devices.
• Lebork: 10 patients equipped with devices to be monitored after acute coronary syndrom.
• In Finland technical tests were carried out with home nurses.

If you have any comments to this chapter please contact Werner Smidt,  Telemedicine, Germany. E-Mail: werner.smidt@segebergerkliniken.de