Internal medicine specialist and Gastroenterologist at the University Hospital Medical Centre “Zvezdara” at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Srđan Marković , MD, PhD is participating in the “Telemedicine” project, the first digital patient counselling centre in the history of Serbian healthcare, developed by the company “Heliant”.
The telemedicine examination platform, created by the Heliant development team with the support of the pharmaceutical company “Takeda”, the office for IT and Entrepreneurship team of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, enables specialist examinations whenever he/she evaluates such examinations are possible, they are performed online, via video call, regardless of where the patient is geographically located.
More details on the examination is available here: link
Srđan Marković tells his impressions of the Clinical Hospital Centre “Zvezdara” patients’ examinations and his views on the importance of telemedicine for improving patient care.
Heliant: In your opinion, what is the importance of telemedicine today, at the time of the covid pandemic?How much has telemedicine changed compared to regular circumstances?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: Telemedicine has definitely become more important during the covid pandemic. Patients often need advice regarding life habits, the need for diagnostics, advice regarding diet in relation to the disease, follow-up laboratory tests, treatment planning.
An assessment of the prescribed therapy is needed when it is not necessary for patients to come to the clinic, but they can also consult a doctor via telemedicine in order to get advice for further treatment. Especially at the time when hospitals become covid centers for a certain period of time, then telemedicine examination becomes even more important.
Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases always need additional advice regarding these situations, given that they are chronic and lifelong diseases and that they affect the largest percentage of the young, working-age population.
Telemedicine is a segment of the puzzle in diagnostics, monitoring, guidance, treatment of these patients that complements the services of an IBD Centre. In regular circumstances, we are at the service of our patients by phone, IBD nurses, but during the pandemic, as I mentioned, telemedicine has become even more important, it makes us even more accessible to patients, without their sometimes unnecessary visits to the clinic.
Heliant: What is your experience during the telemedicine examination?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: University Hospital Medical Centre “Zvezdara” has decades of experience in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), we are trying to successfully continue the tradition and improve treatments. We are at disposal to our patients and for years we have provided this type of service to patients, who send their reports and analyses via e-mail or viber.
At this moment, when this type of examination can be recognized by the Ministry of Health and the NHIF and performed through the Heliant platform, the circle is complete. The first examinations were performed and the experiences were positive.
Heliant: Has this digital platform made the examination more efficient?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: Absolutely. Based on the first telemedicine examinations, there were no technical problems, the connection with the patient was successfully established, the generated reports were delivered to the patients at e-mail addresses, follow-up examinations were scheduled, both in the outpatient facility and by telemedicine, on the platform. It is up to all of us to continue to improve in this regard.lu.
Heliant:What is the experience of doctors abroad, in countries that have more experience with digital patient counselling?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: In the United States, telemedicine companies are working with health insurers and other telemedicine providers to expand market share. As of 2019, 95% of employers believe that their companies will continue to provide telemedicine services and that the benefits of such healthcare provision will be visible in the next five years.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the increased use of telehealth services in the United States. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported an increase of 154% in visits to telehealth during the last week of March 2020 compared to the same dates in 2019.
Heliant: What are the impressions of the patients during the telemedicine examination? Do they want the following checkups to be performed via a digital platform? What do they emphasize as the greatest significance of this solution?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: The first impressions of the patients are really great. Many of them are not from Belgrade and it suits them best to perform the following checkups in this way. The greatest importance and benefit is that patients are spared from coming to the healthcare facility in order to get advice for further treatment, interpret the specialist report, and schedule additional diagnostics.
Heliant: How do patients react when they are introduced to a new type of healthcare service provision? Do they have any doubts or fears? Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: The patients who were proposed to have the follow-up examination performed in this way were surprised at first and understand this in the first place as progress in the provision of healthcare services. There are no doubts, fears, and they easily accept this way of examination.
Heliant: How receptive are doctors to digital solutions in practicing medicine? How easily will they accept them?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: Doctors who treat inflammatory bowel diseases absolutely understand the need for this way of providing services to be implemented in further work. And I know that doctors have been providing this kind of help to patients for years, via e-mail, means of e-communication, so I do not see a problem in accepting this kind of providing services by doctors. It is up to doctors to recognize the situation when this type of examination is applicable and when the patient should be spared of an unnecessary visit to a healthcare facility.
Heliant:Is the way of using the telemedicine service adapted to patients who do not have much experience with new digital technologies?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: When it comes to patients with inflammatory diseases, the highest peak of the disease is around the age of 30. These patients have email addresses and most of them are active on e-communication networks.
It is true that there are patients who do not have e-mail addresses, internet connection and this type of service cannot be offered to this group of patients. In order to perform this type of examination, it is necessary for the patient to have an active e-mail address, where a link arrives, via which he/she joins the video call with the chosen doctor.
Heliant: How will telemedicine expand in our country in the future, now that the healthcare system of the Republic of Serbia has recognized telemedicine services? Can these services make our healthcare more efficient?
Srđan Marković, MD, PhD: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease definitely need a telemedicine type of service during monitoring and treatment, which complements the treatment in a large IBD Centre, such as the one in CBC “Zvezdara”, with more than 1,500 IBD patients on different treatment modalities.
This model of examination can be extended to patients with other chronic diseases in gastroenterology and hepatology, as well as to other areas of medicine, and I am sure that with the recognition of telemedicine services by the Ministry of Health and the NHIF, healthcare services for patients becomes complete and get another dimension. Healthcare is certainly becoming more efficient.