The National Telemedicine Center (CENATE) of the Social Security of Peru (EsSalud), reached this month the figure of 2 million virtual consultations since its creation.
The CENATE was inaugurated in October 2020, by the government of Peru, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to provide services to EsSalud beneficiaries. He currently offers consultations in various medical specialties for adult and pediatric patients. From October 2020 to April 2022, the CENATE registers more than 2 million 160 thousand virtual queries attended.
EsSalud reported on the non-COVID specialties with the greatest demand in the center, for example, in endocrinology they carried out more than 48 thousand telemedicine visits, and in ophthalmology they carried out more than 35 thousand teleconsultations.
Likewise, CENATE carried out remote consultations in other specialties such as: otorhinolaryngology, urology, dermatology, neurology, rheumatology, pediatrics, pulmonology, among others.
However, one of the highest figures corresponds to follow-up teleconsultations for patients who were infected with COVID-19 and presented complications, since these represent more than 16% of the total number of consultations offered in the aforementioned period. That is, more than 343 thousand virtual consultations approximately.
However, Dr. Sergio Machado, director of CENATE, explained that the teleradiology service, which offers readings of x-rays, tomography, mammography, among others, more than 366 thousand virtual consultations were attended. This department performs these interventions daily for the timely diagnosis of diseases or to continue their treatment.
"In this year and a half of operation, the telemedicine service has made it possible to provide timely care in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses to more than two million policyholders, from Lima to the entire country," explained the director of CENATE.
The center currently has 105 virtual offices that are attended by 164 health professionals every day of the week.
