Real-time audio-video technology is helping to bring quality specialist medical care to residents in Taiwan's distant corners, Department of Health (DOH) officials said yesterday.
The pilot program of the Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) connects primary care providers on Matsu's five islands with Taipei City Hospital. The system enables remote access to patients' medical images as well as teleconferencing between the two locations.
The NT$8 million system has served 50 residents in Matsu since it came online on Dec. 11.
The press was treated to a demonstration of the system at a press conference at Taipei City Hospital yesterday.
Improvement
"This is a big improvement in patient care," said Liu Tseng-yin (劉增應), the head of Lienchiang County Bureau of Health, speaking remotely from Matsu's Nan-gan island, "Now we will be able to get expert help with the diagnosis of our patients," he said.
"We hope that this system will reduce the gap between the quality of medical care available in remote regions and that available in more heavily populated areas," said Wang Hsiu-hung (
The program will also save taxpayer dollars, according to Sun Jui-sheng (
"Eight out of 10 patients usually sent to Taipei [for treatment] can now be treated right in Matsu," he said.
It costs NT$30,000 to transport a patient from Matsu to Taipei, Sun said.
"And it's not just the patient. Family members always insist on coming along," he added.
A PACS program was also established between Hualien's Hsiulin Township (秀林) and Tzu Chi hospital last year.
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