Six thousand of the island’s health care workers will be trained over the next three years in the use of telemedicine – the delivery of medical services at a distance through a network of medical experts.

The free training, which will be supplied by the University of the West Indies and Infoserv, is part of the second phase of the island’s foray into telemedicine.

“We are finished with phase one; (we) tested everything, built our software and are now going to deploy,” said Dr Winston Davidson, an honorary research fellow of telemedicine at the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) School for Graduate Studies and Research.

The service, he said, will be marketed to insurance companies and researchers are now sourcing the financing to begin phase two.

Telemedicine is medicine at a distance so every Jamaican, by using a phone, can communicate with their doctor, health institutions anywhere, anytime, all the time using a calling card,” Dr Davidson said. “Also, for persons whose cellular phones are equipped with video, their doctor will be able to see them because all the doctors and institutions will have their own website.”

After more than seven years of research and development, the Caribbean model of telemedicine is finally ready. It was the cheapest developed worldwide to date, with an investment of about US$1.5 million. Developers will focus on exporting the service to locations such as the United States.

According to Dr Davidson, Jamaica is at a distinct advantage in the field. The island, he said, could earn millions in foreign exchange for the service, considering its low per capita spending on health care.

“We are at an advantage because our cost is much lower and our quality is just as high,” he told the Observer on the second day of the three-day Caribbean Telemedicine Symposium and Exhibition that was held at UWI’s Assembly Hall last week.

Jamaica’s health care per capita stands at US$149 with the US edging US$4,200, he said.

During the conference, the researchers also reintroduced ‘Dr on Call’. This is a system, being developed in Jamaica, that will enable ill visitors to access medical care from their hotel rooms using the telephone and a specially-issued calling card known as ‘Dr on Call’.

While the technology is new to Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean, telemedicine is one of the premier vehicles of health care in other countries, including developed countries such as the United States, China, Japan, Russia and even Alaska.

Dr Davidson emphasised that the completion of the region’s programme is timely considering next year’s, heralding of globalisation.

“(Globalisation) will mean that a Jamaican patient doesn’t belong only to the Jamaican doctor but to every doctor in the world,” he said. “It means that mega-pharmacies and mega institutions, etc, will be blown out of the air if we do not find our niche and find it now.”

Health Minister John Junor, who said telemedicine has the “potential for addressing long-intransigent problems in health care, including limited accessibility, cost inflation and uneven quality”, urged the players in the region’s health sector to get on board.

“I challenge you, as I challenge my ministry, to use telemedicine to enhance care of patients; we need to take the necessary steps toward making this new vision of health care delivery a reality,” he appealed.

The symposium was held under the theme “Telemedicine – enhancing access to medical care through technology”. In addition to seminars, it also featured a handful of exhibitors showcasing products designed to simplify health care delivery.