Category: Digital Enhancement

Broadcasting Surgery – The technology already exists – all that’s required now is some enthusiasm!

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On December 12, 2018

In Digital Enhancement

Broadcasting Surgery – The technology already exists – all that’s required now is some enthusiasm!

Surgeons work right on the forefront of healthcare. Conducting life-changing and life-saving procedures, they are responsible for delivering essential interventions in acute, critical and emergency care. In the current digital era, the viewing of live surgery is considered to be an essential part of surgical training both, for open and laparoscopic surgeries. Also, this methodology can revolutionize surgical education and training, particularly for developing countries that don’t have the resources and facilities.

The idea of broadcasting live surgery has been around for several years. However, it’s been largely limited to uses such as add-ons to conferences. Because they haven’t been done so regularly, broadcasts tend to be expensive, time consuming, of variable quality and limited availability.

The phenomenal advances made in audio-visual technologies and high-speed telecommunication systems in the recent years have provided surgeons with unique opportunities. Video streaming and bandwidth availability, combined with the installation of camera systems within operating rooms have literally taken the operation theaters to the classrooms. The unique and unparalleled view of an operation means trainee surgeons know better what to expect when they go in to the operating theatre.

Why ‘Live Broadcast’?

Experience is critical

Surgical procedures can range from the routine and straightforward to the highly complex and specialized. Broadcasted surgeries are of expert practitioners and seasoned surgeons who have pioneered a particular technique and may in some cases be the only person in the world offering it. Broadcasting a surgery permits “virtual” access to the operating room for those who can’t physically be there. It also enables non-specialist surgeons in remote areas to access the expertise of more specialist surgeons in major centers. Advice can be sought from an expert not just in another city but also another country, offering guidance on every step to be taken.

Development of competence

The adage “See one, do one, teach one” is familiar to surgical trainees. Training new surgeons is extremely critically to healthcare in every aspect. Thanks to technology, expert surgeons do not have to travel to lecture or teach, they can do so remotely. It creates the opportunity for potentially thousands of trainee surgeons worldwide to gain the benefit of watching a specialist perform and talk through a single procedure, greatly increasing the flow of knowledge. And it gives the learners the excitement of being able to learn from the best surgeons in the world, in wide variety of disciplines.

Crisis management

Broadcasting facilitates continuing education and is useful when surgeons encounter a rare condition or procedure. The videos are archived so if a surgeon in another part of the world finds himself/ herself in a similar situation, they can search for the relevant technique. All that’s needed is a working internet connection or access to a mobile phone network. The videos can also be viewed on all mobile devices, such as iPads and smart phones.

 

 

 

Healthcare in India – The Great Rural and Urban Divide

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On October 22, 2018

In Digital Enhancement

India is the second most populated country in the world with almost a fifth of the world’s population residing here. Its changing socio-political-demographic and morbidity patterns have been drawing global attention in recent years. In spite of several growth-orientated policies adopted by the government, the ever widening economic, regional and gender disparities are posing challenges for the health sector. According to a report by the United Nations, close to 75% of health related infrastructure, medical manpower and other health resources are concentrated in only urban areas where 27% of the population resides, leaving the poorest of the population in rural areas to face a variety of access barriers. The health status of rural Indians, is still a cause for grave concern.

Ideally, everyone should be able to conveniently and confidently access services such as primary care, dental care, behavioural health, emergency care, and public health services. According to a UN report, access to healthcare is important for:

  • Overall physical, social, and mental health status
  • Prevention of disease
  • Detection and treatment of illnesses
  • Quality of life
  • Preventable death
  • Life expectancy

However, taking into consideration the present scenario, Indian rural health care faces a crisis unmatched in any other social sector. Nearly 86% of the entire medical visits to urban hospitals in India are made by rural population with majority still travelling more than 100 km to avail health care facilities. 70-80% of such expense is borne out of pocket, which more often than not lands them in poverty.

This lack of access to healthcare affects population health and patient well-being in the long run. As patients have to travel long distances for specialized treatment, they may decide to postpone or forego care from a specialist due to the burdens of cost and long travel times. These unmet healthcare needs may include preventive and screening services, proper treatment of illnesses etc., which can have long-term consequences or even prove fatal.

Health literacy impacts a patient’s ability to understand health information and instructions from their healthcare providers. This is also a huge barrier to accessing healthcare in rural communities, where lower educational levels and higher incidents of poverty often impact the population.

Though the existing infrastructural setup for providing health care in rural India is on a right path, yet both the quality and quantity of support that’s available for primary health care facilities is far less than what is defined by the World Health Organization as acceptable.

This can be managed with focusing on skill up gradation and capacity development of the current health facilities in rural areas. The disparities between rural & urban areas to access health care services are alarming. We can dream of healthy India only when the rural health is taken care of. India spends a measly 1.2% of its GDP on the healthcare sector. In comparison, almost 21% of USA’s GDP is spent on the healthcare sector alone. There is an urgent need to meet the challenges of non-availability of quality health services in remote rural regions. There is an immediate requirement to transform the current health care system into an accountable, accessible and affordable system of quality services. There are plenty of programs and policies run by the government for promoting a healthy infrastructure that’s designed to provide access to medical facilities for every individual. However, there still exists a lacuna when it comes to procedures and new practices, which inhibits updated healthcare practices to reach the rural parts of India.

Rural healthcare is in such shambles because no doctors or their families can live in the rural areas with absolutely zero social infrastructures. Also, Doctors in rural areas have no or limited access to continuing medical education (CME) opportunities.

As people in rural areas don’t have enough means to travel long distances and take preventive health care from urban areas, healthcare sector is now using telemedicine solutions to increase the reach of its services to such population. Telemedicine improves access to rural patients along with allowing physicians and health facilities to expand their reach, beyond their own offices. The astounding developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) particularly the web-based technologies have opened up exciting new possibilities for health care across the world. These developments have significantly improved access to healthcare in remote and rural areas. 

The real challenge for the country is to reach 100% access to quality health care.

 

 

Experience Healthcare Simplicity

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On April 18, 2018

In Digital Enhancement

Digital Technology has surfaced as the real force behind the transformation of India, and interventions using technology have transformed several industries, including banking, telecom, transportation, taxation etc. but healthcare continues to lag behind other industries in using technology with patients and doctors. Today, discoveries in medical science, advances in medical technologies, and enhancements in clinical practices are occurring at an increasingly rapid rate. Yet because of a fragmented healthcare delivery system, many patients are unable to benefit from these developments. It’s time we use technology as a force to drive major improvements in healthcare. At Meditorch Technologies, we have designed a platform called LapGuru that can help in achieving the 3 As of healthcare: accessibility, affordability and availability in Laparoscopic surgery through education, training and practice.

Healthcare suffers from the unintended consequences of continued prevalence of medical laxity. What happens at times is that the very solutions that were implemented to solve specific issues become the basis for further unanticipated problems. For example, a laparoscopic surgeon has to upgrade his knowledge and skill on a regular basis. In order to achieve excellence in his profession, he is required to enroll in various professional courses which could also mean that he may have to leave practice for a while to travel to a certain place to do a certain course. And if he has to manage so many things before he could join a course, he would probably think not to join it at all. So, these courses will have less participation, which is detrimental to the medical education system. But with LapGuru, there is no such challenge. Laparoscopic doctors can get access to the latest developments in laparoscopic surgeries at the click of a button. The benefits of enhanced knowledge and skill are transferred to the patient through better outcomes.

There is enormous potential for digital technology to improve many aspects of how we look at healthcare training and outcome. Digital learning and training tools have a definite role to play in not just training more doctors and enhancing their skills, but also enable them to deliver superior care to their patients. Prospects for using mobile technology have improved significantly in the last few years with the increase in the number of smartphone and tablet users. LapGuru platform and app enables the doctors to use digital technology to research information online, share experiences and identify treatment options, anytime, anywhere.

The increase in capability and decrease in costs of the technology means that financial barriers are becoming less of a concern. For example, medical seminars and conferences are considered an important learning tool for doctors. Many doctors, especially in rural areas can’t attend them just because they can’t afford the high expenses, i.e. spend a lot of money on travel and accommodation beside the regular fees for attending the seminar or conference. This is especially true for the doctors in developing countries. But with live video conferencing, LapGuru has provided a perfect solution. Doctors can watch the conferences at their own convenience from anywhere.

‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler,’ said Albert Einstein. Technology is the harbinger of both, tremendous forces for change and tremendous opportunities for transformation. At LapGuru, we have been fairly successful in making use of technology to bring about a change in how laparoscopic surgery education is imparted to bring a transformation in patient care.

 

Digital Learning for Laparoscopic Surgeons

By

On March 26, 2018

In App, Digital Enhancement

As a Doctor, you are destined to lifelong learning because even what’s considered a “best practice” in the profession can change drastically in a short span of time. Continuous exposure is important if you want to keep up with medical progress. Up to date knowledge and skill can ensure a high quality of patient care. Online training is an effective and cost-efficient resource in any field, but in the hands of health professionals like you, it has the power to save lives and significantly improve quality of care.

It is often said that expansion of the Internet is comparable with the significance of Gutenberg’s discovery of printing technology. While printing accelerated manipulation of information stored by then in the form of hand-written texts, the Internet enormously accelerated information manipulation by applying the today’s electronic technology.

Welcome to LapGuru, an advanced, flexible training and learning platform that provides Laparoscopic training videos for surgeons in a highly engaging manner right on any desktop, laptop or device. Applying the latest information technologies to laparoscopic surgery education, LapGuru takes advantage of the increasing availability of Internet access (using optical fibres, Wi-Fi and 3G/4G mobile phone technology).

The delivery advantages of LapGuru as an online platform are easily recognized: low costs, widespread distribution, increased accessibility to information, frequent content updates, and personalized instruction in terms of content and pace of learning are some of the most cited benefits of LapGuru.

On Demand & Highly Accessible

Learn at your own pace and availability, at work, at home, on the train or anywhere with an internet connection

Ground-breaking Learning Packages

One small fee for a wealth of subject-specific videos to allow you to develop true depth in vital topics without worrying about the additional cost

Turn your Expertise into Learning for Others

Are you an expert laparoscopic surgeon? The LapGuru platform can help you share your expertise with hundreds of aspiring surgeons by transmitting your surgeries live.

Visual understanding is something especially important in the laparoscopic surgery field. Images and figures play an extremely important role (consider anatomy, organ structure, port positions, equipment handling, where visual understanding is absolutely necessary.

LapGuru has a video library of 2500+ laparoscopic surgery videos that can help you to improve your clinical and professional competencies. For example, if you want to learn lap chole, there are more than 300 videos that probably show you all the possible variations that you will typically encounter in a lap chole procedure. It applies to Hernia, Bariatric or any other procedure as well. The nuances of any surgical procedure can be learnt only when you watch more and more surgeries and variations in the pathology, LapGuru helps you achieve that.

Get ready for more effective, engaging, innovative learning experiences specifically for laparoscopic surgeons. Subscribe now!

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