The Municipality of Trikala takes under serious consideration citizens’ special needs and for this reason it has implemented the integrated Telehealth care. In collaboration with the General Hospital of Trikala, it services and helps citizens with chronic diseases improve their daily life. The program extends to the point of including private doctors, in cooperation with the Telehealth center’s intervention for 24 hour direct communication among doctors-patients-Hospital. Up to now, over 300 medical cases have been successfully managed.
Based on the above, the Telehealth Project of the Municipality of Trikala focuses on the major chronic diseases, like Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD); Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
Tele monitoring services are provided to individual citizens with Chronic Heart Failure, Chronic Asthma or COPD, Arrhythmias and Hypertension: Individual citizens are equipped with light-weight handheld devices and record their vital signs at home which are then transferred (via the Telehealth center) to the municipality hospital over internet or GPRS for review and feedback by the doctors.
Methodology/ Management of the Telehealth Services The infrastructure and services started within 2007 and was partly funded by the 3th Community Framework Support (CSF). A municipal company, “e-Trikala” SA, runs the Telehealth services.
During the first period of the Telehealth services, a scientific study took place, in cooperation with the Medical School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and the Department of Business Administration, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece in order to evaluate the efficiency of the Telehealth services compared with the traditional services.
The outcomes of the study show, that chronic diseases management, with tele homecare, can introduce cost savings and at the same time improvements in quality of life and prognosis of the patient. The citizens received advanced, personalized health and community services at the same time. As a result, the establishment of a Telehealth center constitutes an efficient channel for the provision of patient - centric services.
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