Similar service: Windows Mobile-powered Wound Technology Network
This September a wound care telemedicine program will launch in the northwestern area of France in Lower Normandy, according to a report in a local newspaper. A key driver for the pilot is the lack of doctors and trained nurses in the region and subsequent high number of emergency room visits.
The program will see about twenty nurses equipped with 3G-enabled mobile phones loaded with special imaging software. The nurses will care for about 10 patients each and will facilitate remote consultations over the Internet with an expert nurse trained in wound care management. The expert nurses will check-in with dermatology specialists weekly via video conference.
"The network will allow providing remote wound care to a patient who can stay at home." Dr. Dompmartin from the dermatology unit of the Caen University Hospital Centre (CHU) told Ouest France. "For the first year of operation, we will work with... patients with chronic wounds: leg ulcers, bedsores and diabetic foot."
The nurses' reports and the resulting prescriptions for the patients' general practitioners will leverage a securing messaging tool called Apicrypt, according to the report.
The Wound Technology Network in the US is perhaps one of the higher profile care providers using mobile phones and wireless networks to provide remote consultations to patients. Last November, the Hollywood-based physician group inked a two-year agreement with AT&T to provide its certified wound care specialists with HTC FUZE smartphones running on AT&T’s wireless network.
Similarly, 3G Doctor recently announced support for video consultations using the iPhone 4 for patients in the UK and Ireland.
As part of its big mobile healthcare push last year, Verizon announced plans to help a NJ hospital build a collaboration service that would allow specialists to conduct video consultations via mobile devices.
Finally, we interviewed Skype last week about its plans for healthcare, and while it acknowledged many patients and healthcare workers use Skype -- increasingly for video calls -- the voice and video company probably won't move directly into the market because of HIPAA concerns in the US.
More on the French pilot over at eGovMonitor
