Internet hype heads for the recycle bin next month – at least where telemedicine is concerned - when e-health practitioners from around the world meet to discuss failures as well as successes in this futuristic field of medicine.
The second International Conference on Successes and Failures in Telehealth aims to share information on a range of issues from tele-psychiatry, tele-dentistry and tele-education to government regulations in this new field.
Conference convenor and Director of Research at The University of Queensland’s Centre for Online Health, Professor Richard Wootton, said last year’s inaugural conference had broken new ground by acknowledging that telemedicine was “beset by smoke and mirrors”.
“A lot has happened in telemedicine in the last five to 10 years, but many trial projects don’t reach the second stage. We know that the internet is a powerful tool that can shrink global distances and in the case of telehealth, provide access to information that can save lives. Nevertheless, basically, we are still exploring suitable applications”, Professor Wootton said.
“The conference aims to share information about outcomes to build an evidence base that can act as a foundation for the future of telehealth,” he said.
According to Professor Wootton, post-operative monitoring of patients in their homes was an area of major growth potential for telemedicine and details of a Brisbane-based trial would be presented at the conference.
Sustainability, cost effectiveness, policy and new techniques are among the issues to be highlighted at the conference, which will be held at the Keidanren Auditorium, Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane on Thursday, 1st and Friday 2nd August.
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