Tele-electrocardiography in South-East Asia Archipelago: From a Basic Need for Healthcare Services to a Research Implementation

Abstract

The fundamental principle for telemedicine implementation in the real world is to address the basic needs of healthcare services. The utilization of telemedicine naturally aimed to overcome distance, time, and financial constraints. Remote areas that are far from the cities and healthcare centers are the main regions that would mostly get benefit from the telemedicine program, for instance, in Indonesia, a country with a big archipelago area in South-East Asia. The primary healthcare center in this country is commonly available, however, the facilities and health workers are still limited. The health services are being centralized in big cities, and thus, the rural areas are far left in the context of healthcare services. Telemedicine could bring both standardized and specialized healthcare services nearer to the patients, irrespective of distance and location constraints. After receiving professional cardiology advice, implementation of telemedicine program, such as tele-electrocardiography (tele-ECG) at the primary care level, may be a financially advantageous way to identify cardiovascular disease in the general population and avoid overtreating patients. This is our first time adopting tele-ECG consultations in East Indonesia under the Makassar Telemedicine Program. This program allows us to maintain a big database of cohorts and connect its implementation to real-world clinical practices, and at the end, could guiding the health workers to improve patient’s outcomes.