Establishing an online telemedicine Establishing an online telemedicine community in the UKcommunity in the UK

Jim Briggs, University of Portsmouth

Dick Curry, CMW Associates

Bruce Madge, British Library

HistoryHistory of the Telemedicine of the Telemedicine Information ServiceInformation Service Department of Health commissioned 2

surveys:– 1996 Survey of UK telemedicine activity – 1997 Further survey of telecare

October 1998 – National Database of Telemedicine (NDTM) website launched

January 2001 – Telemedicine Information Service (TIS) website launched

TIS componentsTIS components

WebsiteEmail distribution listPhone/call-in serviceBibliography

The TIS websiteThe TIS website

Contains information on:– Projects: pilots and full-scale services– Companies: providing products or

services– People: practitioners or experts– Resources: books, articles and

websites– Equipment: produced and used

Fully searchable

Database entriesDatabase entries

Telemedicine projects 128

Telemedicine education projects 13

UK companies involved in telemedicine 142

Other organisations (including health service) 385

People 395

Publications 145

Links to other websites 19

Equipment used in telemedicine 262

TOTAL 1489

Common applications ofCommon applications oftelemedicine in the UKtelemedicine in the UK

“Real-time” NHS Direct (4) Ambulance links to A&E

(11) Minor injury unit links (8) Psychiatry (9) Education and training

(25)

“Store and forward” Dermatology (18) Cardiology (9) Radiology (8) Ophthalmology (5)

Some typical uses of TISSome typical uses of TIS

“Keeping up to date” Finding products and

suppliers Market analysis Policy research Seeking potential

sources of funding

Research into:– Medico-legal aspects

of telemedicine– Finding projects on

paediatric cardiology before setting up own

– Telepsychiatry– Armed forces

telemedicine

Some statisticsSome statistics

15,500 visits in the past year Mainly from UK

– but visits from 70 countries

Most visits during UK working hours 264+ websites have links to TIS or NDTM On all the major Internet search engines Search for “telemedicine” – you will find it

TIS partnersTIS partners

WebsiteEmail discussion list

Walk-in/telephone service Bibliographic lists

Information Policy Unit Funding from Department of Health (England) & other home health departments (Scotland, Wales, N Ireland)

The TIS websiteThe TIS website

http://www.tis.bl.uk/

Telemedicine mailing listTelemedicine mailing list

Over 370 membersAverage 12 new members per monthTypically 5-10 messages a monthMessages archivedCommunity building

Have we established a Have we established a community?community?It has a place to meet

– The websiteIt has a communication medium

– The mailing list

http://www.tis.bl.uk