In 2018, the Government of the State of Durango, through the General Cabinet Coordination, set the goal of expanding the Durango Telemedicine Network from 12 to 26 hospitals.
The Government of Durango within the State Development Plan 2016-2022, specifically in Guiding Axis 2: "Government with a Human Sense, Objective "Social Welfare for Development", included telemedicine as an element for the modernization of the infrastructure of the health sector . And, which also ensures medical care for populations in remote areas, which due to their geographical location have fewer opportunities and resources to access quality medical care.
In this way, with the expansion plan of the Durango Telemedicine Network, the state went from having 12 connected medical units in 2018 to 23 units in 2021, only three short of the final goal of 26 connected units throughout the state. 14 of these hospitals or clinics are consultants, that is, they receive consultations, and 9 are consultation units, and provide consultations to other units.
“The Telemedicine Program implemented in the Health Services of Durango has the general purpose of connecting General Hospitals and tertiary care Hospitals with Comprehensive Hospitals through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to provide and support health care services when distance separates patients from medical specialists”, explains the Telehealth Observatory of the National Center for Technological Excellence in Health (CENETEC).
In addition, one of the specific objectives is to reduce the unnecessary transfers and visits of patients to hospitals specializing in second and third level in outpatient consultations.
Currently, after the addition of the Diabetes Clinic to the Telemedicine Network; and the hospitals and clinics that are concluding the implementation process, the state will close 2021 with 24 units with telemedicine coverage.
So far, in 2021 alone, the Telemedicine Network in Durango has provided 4,694 consultations. Likewise, one of the strategies for remote care for patients infected with COVID-19 was the Che-KDgo Platform, which registered 102,815 calls between August 2020 and June 2021.
In this way, the impact of telemedicine in the state has made it possible to provide more timely treatments to patients and avoid the need for the patient or the medical staff to travel. It has also promoted active training for top-level professionals. “Telemedicine is on the way to radically improve access to health services in the State of Durango”, explains CENETEC.
