How to ensure effective implementation of telemedicine in the health care system?

The conference was held at the seat of the medical self-government - not accidentally, because the NIL and the TGR have been closely cooperating in the field of telemedicine for a long time, and during the pandemic this cooperation, as emphasized by attorney Jan Pachocki, representing the TGR, only tightened.

Experts have no doubts: introducing telemedicine tools to the health care system increases the patient's access to the doctor, enables remote patient care and optimizes the use of the potential of medical staff. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be a powerful booster for telemedicine, and especially for its acceptance by patients on the one hand and medical professionals on the other.

Pachocki recalled that previously telemedicine in Poland was developing very slowly, and the implementation of individual e-health tools was accompanied by protracted discussions. - In retrospect, however, we realize that it was the introduction of the e-prescription - although it raised considerable doubts, among others the medical community - provided patients with continuous access to pharmacotherapy during the pandemic, he emphasized. However, not everything went smoothly at first. The problem, the expert said, was the insufficient preparation of the clinic to implement telepaths. - There was a lack of appropriate quality standards that would help in developing an appropriate course of action, and the teleporting itself was abused - he admitted.

Hence the need for intervention - on the part of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Fund, but also the medical self-government and scientific societies. And although telepaths are not abused anymore - the payer's representative said that they currently account for approx. 10 percent. advice (at the peak of the pandemic, in some voivodeships it was even half!), which some experts considered too low a percentage, the improvement of their quality remains a challenge. The TGR proposal is an interdisciplinary standard for the provision of telemedicine services under the patronage of the Supreme Medical Chamber, the Patient's Rights Ombudsman, the Supreme Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, as well as patient organizations and scientific societies. This standard is based on three pillars:

- Aware and active patient as a medical service partner;

- A due diligence physician acting on the basis of medical guidelines;

- Effective organization of medical services, guaranteeing high quality and proper placement of telemedicine in the system.