The General Directorate of Telehealth, Reference and Emergencies (Digtel) of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), of Peru, reported the total numbers of telemedicine consultations during the first seven months of the year.
According to official figures registered by Digtel, from January to July of this year, 9,898,634 telemedicine consultations were carried out. Coordination between local, departmental and national health authorities was the key to reaching that figure.
"There is no way to unify health unless it is done through the digitization of our services and the consolidation of Telehealth as a new model of remote care, on a national scale," explained Fernando Carbone, who works as an office advisor at the Minsa.
Beyond telemedicine teleconsultations, the Minsa has also promoted special attention in teletraining and Tele IEC (Information, Education and Communication).
On the other hand, the adoption of electronic medical records and electronic prescriptions continues to advance, however, the authorities recognize the need to digitize the health system.
At the national level, the hospital with the highest number of teleconsultations provided was Hospital Santa Rosa in Lima. In terms of teletraining, the National Institute of Children's Health was one of the most outstanding in terms of total staff training. In Tele IEC it was the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases, the one with the best figures during this period.
From 2017 to the present, the Directorate of Telemedicine has registered more than 2,600 health establishments in the National Telehealth Network, belonging to regional governments, the Minsa, the National Penitentiary Institute, the Army and the Navy.
