Report on a new remote collaborative medical care system -construction and operation of a remote collaborative medical care network for inflammatory bowel disease using information and communication technology in Hokkaido

Nihon Shokakibyo Gakkai Zasshi. 2022;119(9):830-838. doi: 10.11405/nisshoshi.119.830.

ABSTRACT

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) comprises 2 major types-ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD). A remote collaborative medical care fee has been established for patients with suspected intractable diseases since 2020. Remote collaborative medical care is a type of telemedicine wherein a hospital specialist for intractable diseases, the patient, and an attending physician at a community hospital communicate via video calls. In IBD cases, however, treating patients who have already been diagnosed with severe or intractable diseases is difficult. As a part of the Hokkaido Intractable Disease Medical Care System Development Project, we have started providing free remote collaborative medical care services for all IBD patients, including those with a confirmed diagnosis and attending regional hospitals. We set up the telemedicine system using Microsoft365, a commercial cloud, and Nextcloud, a PaaS, to ensure robust security and enable rapid and massive sharing of medical details by information and communication technology. Since April 2021, we have examined 27 patients (36 times). Among these patients, 5 patients from regional hospitals were undiagnosed (1 patient of suspected CD, 3 patients of suspected IBD unclassified (IBD-U), and 1 patient of undiagnosed enteritis). Twenty-two patients from regional hospitals had a confirmed diagnosis (17 UC and 5 CD patients). Eight patients required a second time remote collaborative medical care, and 1 patient required a third time remote collaborative medical care. There was no equipment failure such as communication failure or system trouble, and all patients could be examined smoothly. The maintenance cost of the telemedicine system was 2500yen/month per hospital. Among all cases receiving remote collaborative medical care, 86% were consultations for refractory or severe active cases with a confirmed diagnosis of IBD. At present, the remote collaborative medical care fee for diagnosed patients is not permitted. Since remote collaborative medical care has the potential to correct regional disparities in medical standards, there is an urgent need to review the criteria for remote collaborative medical care fees.

PMID:36089358 | DOI:10.11405/nisshoshi.119.830