A new strategy of the Ministry of Health (Minsal), proposes the use of technologies to provide care to elderly patients, from primary care to care in the specialty of geriatrics.
The Chilean Minister of Health, Enrique Paris, announced the creation of the Geriatrics Cell of the Digital Hospital. This initiative aims to improve access to the elderly, especially primary care, which has been key during the health emergency, and to specialized care in geriatrics.
The Digital Hospital is a health care model that is completely focused on the patient, and is based on the use of technologies to provide medical care. This system provides facilities for access to medical care and information for health care. The Digital Hospital has nationwide coverage, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In this sense, María José Letelier, head of the Department of Digital Health of the Minsal, called on the population to use the services of the Digital Hospital: "It is a complement to the model that currently exists, it is not something parallel or something different, but rather It is part of the Integrated Health Service Network”.
In this way, the Geriatrics Cell of the Digital Hospital will support primary level establishments, which are part of the Healthcare Network. The services offered will be asynchronous or deferred telemedicine. In addition, through the Digital Hospital platform, the professionals of the primary care establishment will be able to consult information and recommendations about each patient remotely with geriatricians and clinical pharmacists.
On the other hand, the strategist has the specific objective of improving care and management of morbidities and loss of functionality associated with old age.
Finally, the Minsal explained that through the Geriatrics Cell they have resolved more than 1,200 cases in 246 establishments, achieving a resolution rate of 89.7%.
