TY - JOUR
T1 - Cabo Verde Telemedicine Program
T2 - An Update Report and Analysis of 2,442 Teleconsultations
AU - Azevedo, Vanda
AU - Latifi, Rifat
AU - Parsikia, Afshin
AU - Latifi, Fortesa
AU - Azevedo, Antonio
N1 - Funding Information:
The nationwide CBTP, built by the IVeH, and funded by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and now managed by the Ministry of Health of Cabo Verde, continues to increase access to specialized care, prevent unnecessary and costly transfers, and has become a great success story of telemedicine in Africa. Moreover, this program should serve as a model for establishing island-nations telemedicine programs worldwide. There is a need for electronic health records (EHRs) in the country that will help the telemedicine program as well. Investment on technology human capacities will further improve the program.
Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2021, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2021.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Introduction: The Cabo Verde Telemedicine program (CVTP) was established by the International Virtual e-Hospital Foundation using the Initiate-Build-Operate-Transfer strategy to improve access to specialty care for the population in the archipelago of Cabo Verde in 2012. Since its inception, the CVTP has proven a great success story of telemedicine in Africa. Our first report on the initial results of a nationwide CVTP was published in 2014. The aim of this article is to analyze the follow-up data and analyze the activity of CVTP. Methods: All telemedicine consultations of the CVTP from 2014 to 2018 were analyzed. Patient demographics, clinical discipline, and transfer status were analyzed. Categorical variables were compared with a chi-squared test. Results: There were 2,442 telemedicine consultations in 24 clinical programs performed during the study period. The most common clinical disciplines with >100 consultations were neurology, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, endocrinology, otolaryngology, urology, and dermatology. Overall, the transfer rate was 34.3%. Conclusion: The nationwide CVTP continues to increase access to specialized care, prevent unnecessary and costly transfers, and has become a great success story of telemedicine in Africa. Moreover, this program should serve as a model for establishing island-nations telemedicine programs worldwide.
AB - Introduction: The Cabo Verde Telemedicine program (CVTP) was established by the International Virtual e-Hospital Foundation using the Initiate-Build-Operate-Transfer strategy to improve access to specialty care for the population in the archipelago of Cabo Verde in 2012. Since its inception, the CVTP has proven a great success story of telemedicine in Africa. Our first report on the initial results of a nationwide CVTP was published in 2014. The aim of this article is to analyze the follow-up data and analyze the activity of CVTP. Methods: All telemedicine consultations of the CVTP from 2014 to 2018 were analyzed. Patient demographics, clinical discipline, and transfer status were analyzed. Categorical variables were compared with a chi-squared test. Results: There were 2,442 telemedicine consultations in 24 clinical programs performed during the study period. The most common clinical disciplines with >100 consultations were neurology, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, endocrinology, otolaryngology, urology, and dermatology. Overall, the transfer rate was 34.3%. Conclusion: The nationwide CVTP continues to increase access to specialized care, prevent unnecessary and costly transfers, and has become a great success story of telemedicine in Africa. Moreover, this program should serve as a model for establishing island-nations telemedicine programs worldwide.
KW - Cabo Verde
KW - IBOT
KW - clinical telemedicine disciplines
KW - islands
KW - telemedicine
KW - transfer
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U2 - 10.1089/tmj.2020.0001
DO - 10.1089/tmj.2020.0001
M3 - Article
C2 - 32598240
AN - SCOPUS:85092310929
SN - 1530-5627
VL - 27
SP - 172
EP - 177
JO - Telemedicine and e-Health
JF - Telemedicine and e-Health
IS - 2
ER -