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An EU-funded project, called HEALTH OPTIMUM, has been exploring how telemedicine can help aid stretched European health resources.

The project is examining how technology can – for example – get emergency diagnosis for patients without having to transport them to clinics.

Commenting on the aims of the initiative, project coordinator Claudio Dario explained: “We set out to prove the sustainability of telemedical services from an organisational and economic point of view. In our two years of market validation, we found that telemedicine not only gave advantages from an economic point of view, but was very useful for the needs of patients.”

Addressing issues such as an explosion of new technologies, an aging population and increased expectations of care, the initiative aims to highlight how remote technology could bring specialist care and address the structural issues that European healthcare faces.

The team tested the processes in Dario’s region of Veneto, an area that plays host to 4.6 million people, and focused on head trauma.

Instead of transporting all head injury cases to one of six neurological centres – which previously occurred - initial remote expert diagnosis demonstrated that most did not need the specialist care at the centres, thus saving time and money.

“Our analysis showed that up to 80% of transportations have been avoided by this system, achieving a high level of savings. In addition, by speeding up expert assessment, telemedicine saves lives” concluded Dario.

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