December 7, 2021
News
Caritas Czech Republic in partnership with the Homecare Association launches a pilot project to implement telemedicine (teleconsultations and telemonitoring) in 8 medico-social centers across the country and within its framework, 24 medical and social assistants will be providing remote care services to Moldovan citizens.
The project is aimed at equipping healthcare and social centers with the technology necessary to offer telemedicine services, training the staff of these centers to use the equipment and hold remote consultations, and, last but not least, to regulate and develop working standards in telemedicine to be able to replicate this pilot initiative and extend it at the national level.
The project launching event was held online on November 23, 2021, bringing together 284 people including H.E. Stanislav Kázecký, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Moldova, public authority representatives, donors, private sector, healthcare and social service providers, and specialized doctors and nurses.
The launch was inaugurated by His Excellency Stanislav Kázecký, who mentioned that the project would not only create a sustainable health and social care system for people, but also contribute to digitalization of Moldova in general. Vasile Vasiliev, Country Director of Caritas Czech Republic in Moldova, thanked the Czech people for support and a chance to take the lead in an innovative project.
During the launching event, Tamara Adașan, Director of the Homecare Association, explained the need to start using telemedicine in care services saying how telemedicine could serve as a solution for many healthcare system challenges, such as unequal territorial distribution of healthcare services, increasing number of people who need healthcare, rapid aging of the population, etc.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, people aged over 60 account for 21.8% of the total population of the country, and their share permanently increases.
Despite the fact that relevant public authorities and NGOs have developed a number of social and medical services for the elderly to ensure their decent and independent living in their own homes, due to travel restrictions, providing healthcare and social services has become a complicated task.
Telemedicine has proven to be an efficient and safe solution adapted to travel restrictions, and external development partners are eager to support technology-based initiatives.
What does telemedicine imply?
Telemedicine implies offering remote assistance and healthcare services when doctors and patients are in different locations. Telemedicine is based on using such technologies and mobile devices as phones, tablets, or computers.
If applied efficiently and used properly, telemedicine can largely improve the quality of life of persons who need medical care, suffer from chronic diseases, or whose condition has to be regularly monitored.
Telemedicine offers multiple advantages: it eliminates geographical barriers, provides access to doctors and specialists from other localities in the country or even abroad, requires no patient transportation costs, reduces the burden to the primary healthcare system, decreases waiting times for consultations at the office, and increases ordinary people’s access to healthcare services. Besides, telemedicine greatly reduces the risk of contracting COVID-19, and therefore, is crucial during the pandemic.
What benefits does telemedicine bring to ordinary citizens?
Every one of us has at least one elderly relative in our country – an aunt, an uncle, a grandmother, a cousin, etc.
If we use our imagination, we can quickly understand how telemedicine can make ordinary citizens’ life easier.
Meet Aunt Maria. She is 72 and resides in Palanca Village. Aunt Maria suffers from a chronic disease and has to visit a doctor for regular monitoring and consultations. Yet there are no doctors in the village; they only can be found in the district, in Stefan Voda.
Palanca Village is located at 45 km from the district center. A trip to Stefan Voda costs about 26 lei; hence, Aunt Maria pays at least 52 lei out of her own pocket every time she needs to visit a doctor for monitoring and consultation.
If Aunt Maria does not require emergency healthcare and does not necessarily need to visit a doctor’s office, telemedicine could save her not only 52 lei, which she could spend for her other needs, but also a good part of her day she currently wastes for traveling and waiting in the outpatient clinic halls.
Due to telemedicine, Aunt Maria could use a remote consultation while staying at home. Aunt Maria could have time allocated only for her; she could be consulted by a specialist in another part of the country or even abroad. Aunt Maria would not have to waste her day, and she could keep the transportation money in her family budget.
Another important issue for Aunt Maria is that telemedicine would reduce her chances to contract COVID-19, and she would not have to interact with large groups of people.
The State currently has no regulatory framework for telemedicine
In Moldova, the regulatory framework relevant to the sphere of telemedicine and electronic healthcare is fragmented, and there is no single regulation for this purpose. 41 legal acts contain scattered provisions on telemedicine, yet the existing regulations are rather obsolete and have to be updated and brought in line with the European standards.
The good news, however, is that “the telemedicine project implemented by Caritas Czech Republic and the Homecare Public Association keeps up with the objectives of the Government of the Republic of Moldova which intends to bring integrated assistance services as close to the family and the community as possible. The present-day services need to be reconsidered and re-conceptualized to meet people’s changing needs.” This is a statement made at the launching event by Galina Bujor, Head of the Social Assistance Policy Department for Low-Income Families, Elderly People, and Veterans at the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.
Tatiana Zatic, Head of the Primary Medical Assistance Policy Department at the Ministry of Health, also emphasized the authorities’ intention to support the project efforts, mentioning that, “... due to telemedicine, we would be able to offer assistance to people in difficulty, and the Ministry of Health would fully support this project and provide the organizations with all the support required for implementing the activities planned.”
Therefore, Caritas Czech Republic and the Homecare Association supported by the relevant key authorities suggest establishing an advisory board which will define the concept of telemedicine services in home care and develop a set of quality standards in this sphere, thus creating a foundation for preparing a well-defined unitary regulatory framework.
We would like to remind you that the pilot project with a value of 345 000 EUR is funded by the Czech Development Agency and will be implemented until the end of 2024.
