Telehealth in China opportunity and challenges.docx
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Telehealth in China opportunity and challenges.docx
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TelehealthinChinaopportunityandchallenges
TelehealthinChina:
opportunityandchallenges
JieChenandZhiyuanXia
Introduction
Chinaisalargecountry,withahugepopulationandpoortelecommunicationsinfrastructure(althoughcommunicationsarebeingimprovedrapidly).Thelevelofsocialandeconomicdevelopmentdiffersgreatlybetweenthecoastalareasofthecountryandtheruralareasinthewest.Healthresourcesarerelativelywelldevelopedandeasilyavailableinthecoastalareas,whilethereareshortagesofmedicalcareanddrugsinthepoorandruralareas.Patientsinruralareasoftenexperiencedifficultiesinaccessingmedicalcare.Iftheytravellongdistancestoaccesshigher-qualitymedicalcare,theyincuraheavyfinancialburden.
TelemedicinepastandpresentinChina
Inindustrializedcountries,theconceptofusingcommunicationstechnologytodistributemedicalexpertiseisnotparticularlynew.However,thedevelopmentoftele-healthisrelativelynewinChina.Theearliesttelehealthactivitiesbeganinthelate1980s.Anemergencyconsultationin1986thatwasprovidedforaship’screwviaradiotelegramsisrecognizedastheearliesttelehealthactivityinChina.In1988,theGeneralArmyHospitalinBeijingcarriedoutaneurosurgerycasediscussionwithaGermanhospital.ShanghaiMedicalUniversitydevelopedoneoftheearliesttele-medicinesystemsinChina.InSeptember1994,theysucceededinperformingatele-consultationbetweentheHuashanhospitalandstaffattheShanghaiJiaotongUniversity.1
ThefirstgenerationoftelemedicinesystemsinChinawasbasedonvideoconferencingviathetelephonenetwork(PSTN).In1995,withthesupportoftheShanghaiEducationandResearchNetwork,ShanghaiMedicalUniversitylaunchedapilottele-medicineprojectandestablishedatelemedicinecentre.2Ataboutthattime,peoplebegantoemploytheInternettosearchformedicalhelp.Oneoftwowell-knowncasesoccurredinMarch1995:
agirlnamedYangXiaoxiainShandongProvincehadanunidentifieddiseaseandaskedforhelpthroughtheInternet.Thediseasewasfinallydiagnosedasaphagocyticbacterialinfectioninhermuscles.Theothercasewasinthesameyear.AstudentnamedZhulingatBeijingUniversitywassickforunknownreasons.AftersearchingforhelpviatheInternet,morethan1000replyemailshelpedhertoprovethatshehadheavy-metalpoisoning.1
Atthisstage,afewhealth-relatedinstitutionsbegantodevelopexperimentaltele-healthsystems.Theauthoritiesnoticedthistrend,andbegantosupportthesetele-healthactivities.
In1997,thetelemedicinesystemofShanghaiMedicalUniversityobtainedtherecognitionofthecountryleadersatthenationalITexhibition.Thisboostedinterestintelehealth.Variousorganizationsandinstitutionsbegantheirtelehealthprogrammes.Thelate1990swasaperiodofrapidprogressfortelehealthinChina.TheJin-Wei(GoldenHealth)TelemedicineNetworkbeganoperationinJuly1997,andmanynational-levelhospitalsinBeijingandShanghaiwereincludedinthisnetwork.Thenetworkprovidedremoteconsultationandremoteeducationservicesforhospitalsin21provinces,includingYunnan,Sichuan,TibetandXinjiang,viasatellitecommunication.Inthesameyear,theInternationalMedicalNetworkCommitteeoftheChinaMedicalFoundationestablishedtheirtelemedicinenetwork.Followingthesetwolargetelemedicineprogrammes,manyothersemerged.TheShuang-wei(SatelliteHealthEducationNetworkoftheMinistryofHealth)networkwassponsoredbytheMinistryofHealth,andtheMediChinaBYLtelemedicinenetworkwassponsoredbytheShanghaimunicipalgovernment.Therewerealsomanytelehealthprogrammesinitiatedinotherareas,includingGuangdong,Sichuan,FujianandYunnanprovinces.3WhentelehealthactivitiesbegantogrowinChinainthelate1990s,thenationalhealthauthorityrecognizedtheimportanceofsupervisingthem,andtheMinistryofHealthestablishedasetofrulesfortelehealthin1999.4
Therapiddevelopmentoftelecommunicationsinfrastructureinthelate1990shelpedtomaketelehealtharoutineactivityinChina.Theordinarytelephonenetwork,theISDNnetwork,satellitecommunicationsandtheInternetwereallemployedfortelehealthpurposes.Manydifferentorganizations,includingthegovernment,medicaluniversities,hospitalsandevensomeprivatecompanies,builttelehealthnetworksandmadetelehealtharoutineapplication.Generally,theyprovidedremoteconsultationsandremoteeducationservicesforusersoftheirnetworks.
TelehealthprogrammesinChina
Since1997,manydifferenttelehealthprogrammeshavebeenconductedinChina.Theseprogrammeshavebeensponsoredbydifferententities,haveemployeddifferenttelecommunicationmeansandhaveoperatedatdifferentscales.Someprogrammeshavebuiltlargetelehealthnetworksandconnectedmanydifferenthealthorganizations.
Oneofthemostwell-knowntelehealthprogrammeswastheJin-WeiTelemedicineNetwork(theGoldenHealthMedicalNetwork).ThisnetworkwasestablishedwiththesupportoftheMinistryofHealth.ThenetworkoperationcentrewaslocatedinBeijingandwasasatellitenetworkcoveringthewholecountry.Manynational-levelandlower-levelhospitalsfrommorethan20provinceswereincludedinthisnetwork.Thesatellitecommunicationallowedan8Mbit/suploadspeedand2Mbit/sdownload.Between1997and2003,theJin-WeiTelemedicineNetworkprovidedremoteconsultationservicesformorethan1000patients,andprovidedremoteeducationservicesformorethan50000doctorsandnurses.TheJin-Weiorganizationalsodevelopedawebsitetoprovidehealth-relatedinformationservicesforusers.However,thehighcostofsatellitedevicesandcommunicationspreventedmanylow-levelhospitalsfromconnectingtothisnetwork.Subsequently,theJin-WeinetworkbegantoemployISDNasasecondtelecommunicationmethodtocovermorehospitals.3,5
TheCMF(ChinaMedicalFoundation)TelemedicineNetworkwasalsoalarge-scaletelemedicineprogramme.Itwassupportedbyanon-profit-makingorganization,theInternationalMedicalNetworkAssociation.Itbeganin1997.Fromthestart,severaldifferentmethodsoftelecommunicationwereemployed.First,telephonelineswereusedtoestablishanetworkcoveringbasiclevelhospitals,thenISDNandtheInternetwereusedtoconnecthigher-levelhospitals,andeventuallysatellitecommunicationwasusedtoconnectnational-levelhospitals.TheaimoftheCMFTelemedicineNetworkwasdifferentfromthatoftheJin-Weinetwork,inthatitmainlyprovidedtelehealthservicesforbasic-levelhospitals.Itusedtelephonelinecommunicationanddesktopvideoconferencing.3,5
TheaimoftheShuang-wei(SatelliteHealthEducationNetworkoftheMinistryofHealth)networkwastoprovideremotemedicaleducationservicesfordoctorsandnursesalloverthecountry.ItwassupportedbytheMinistryofHealthandbeganroutineoperationin2001.Satelliteandopticalfibrewereemployedasthemajortelecommunicationmeans.Thenetworksupporteddifferentkindsofremoteeducation,suchaslivebroadcasting,videoondemand,theinterchangeofonlineeducationmaterials,andpoint-to-pointormultipointvideoconferencing.3,6
TheBYLTelemedicineNetworkwasabranchoftheChinaSocialDevelopmentNetwork.ItwassupportedbytheShanghaimunicipalgovernmentandconnectedShanghaiandwesternareasofChina.Varioustelecommunicationmedia,includingsatellite,fibre-opticcables,theInternetandtelephonelines,wereemployedinthisnetwork.SpecialistsinShanghaiprovidedanimageconsultationserviceforpatientsinotherareas.WhenShanghaiprovidedtelehealthservicesforwesternareasviathisnetwork,theyalsoprovidedbusinessinformationservices.3
AChineseTraditionalMedicineTelemedicineNetworkwasestablishedbytheChineseAcademyofTraditionalChineseMedicinein1997.ItemployedISDNfortelecommunicationtoprovideatraditionalChinesemedicineconsultationserviceforinternationalanddomesticpatients.3
SeveralothertelehealthprogrammesweresetupinChinainthelate1990s.TheseincludedtheSino-JapaneseTelemedicineCollaborationforhigh-resolutionmedicalimageconsultation,theSino-RussianSatelliteTelemedicineCollaboration,andthetelemedicineprogrammesoftheSunYetSanUniversity,theShanghaiSecondMedicalUniversityandtheWesternChinaMedicalUniversity.TheShuang-weiandBYLnetworksarestillinoperation.Theprogrammeshaddifferentpurposes,employeddifferenttechnologiesandtelecommunicationmedia,andweresupportedbydifferentorganizations.3Since2003,someprovinceshaveestablishedtheirownregionaltelemedicinenetworks:
theFujianProvinceTelemedicineNetworkwassetupinlate2003andtheGansuProvinceTelemedicineNetworkinlate2007.Alltheseregionaltelemedicinenetworksaresupportedbylocalgovernmentandarestillinoperation.
TelehealthprogrammeofShanghaiMedicalUniversity
ShanghaiMedicalUniversity(SMU)providedmedicalservices,teachingandresearch,andhadabout5000students.IthadanexcellenttechnicalreputationinChina.ManydepartmentsinSMU-affiliatedhospitalswerewellequipped,andsomedepartmentswererankedthebestinthecountry.In2000,SMUwasmergedwithFudanUniversitytosetupanewFudanUniversity.
SMUwasapioneeroftelehealthinChina.In1994,itbeganatelehealthpilotproject.ItdevelopedthefirstgeneraltelehealthsysteminChina,whichwasbasedonlow-bandwidthvideoconferencingoverthetelephonenetwork.Throughthissystem,asurgeoninHuashanHospital(anaffiliatedhospitalofSMU)succeededinprovidingaremoteconsultationserviceforapatientinShanghaiJiaotongUniversity.In1995,withthe
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