RESOLUTION
of the International Scientific and Practical Conference
“Arctic Telemedicine”
Representatives of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the Tyumen and Arkhangelsk Regions, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutiya), the Chelyabinsk Region, Norway and Scotland took part in the International Scientific and Practical Conference “Arctic Telemedicine”. The number of participants totaled 192. The participants noted the scientific and practical importance of the Conference.
In the course of discussions participants addressed the following issues:
- experience in telemedicine application in the Russian regions, Norway and Scotland;
- prospects for telemedicine development;
- legal aspects of telemedicine in Russia and Norway;
- use of Russian and foreign medical equipment in telemedicine.
The Conference participants acknowledge that:
- telemedicine is an innovative and high-demand trend in medical and technological development contributing to the improving of health care and health sector management;
- when it comes to the Arctic region, remote and hard-to-reach areas, telemedicine is an efficient tool to improve quality and accessibility of health care for the population;
- both in Russia and abroad vast practical experience in applying telemedicine has been accumulated;
- the results of the joint Russian-Norwegian project implemented by the University Hospital of Northern Norway, Norwegian Centre of Telemedicine, Directorate of Regional Policy and Information of the NAO and the Nenets Regional Hospital may be helpful in organizing telemedicine care to the population of remote and hard-to-reach areas;
- the need to expand the range of telemedicine services and to use medical equipment in telemedicine is growing among medical workers and population.
At the same time, the Conference participants note that the development of telemedicine is constrained by the lack of:
` - legislation in the sphere of telemedicine both on the state and regional levels;
- financing of telemedicine services in the compulsory health insurance system;
- motivation mechanisms for the medical institutions’ staff to use telemedicine in daily practice.
The Conference participants decided:
1. To recommend the partners on the joint Russian-Norwegian project “Qualitative improvement of health services for indigenous people in remote areas in the Nenets region” to continue cooperation on expanding application of telemedicine in providing medical care in remote northern territories;
2. To recommend the Administration of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug:
a) to apply the best practice of the joint project “Qualitative improvement of health services for indigenous people in remote areas in the Nenets region” in the development of regional telemedicine network;
b) to initiate the development of regional regulatory and legal documents in the field of telemedicine;
c) to draft an integrated compatible regional telemedicine system of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug;
d) to develop a general organization plan of the telemedicine system and a “road map” of existing telemedicine system of the NAO;
e) to elaborate procedures applying telemedicine technologies for providing medical assistance to the population of remote areas in case of the acute coronary syndrome describing necessary conditions at all stages of health care;
f) to propose the territorial office of the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund to adopt a compulsory medical insurance tariff for providing a telemedical service;
g) to submit a proposal to the RF Ministry of Health Care and the National Telemedicine Agency with the initiative to establish a working group on the development of regional telemedicine systems as parts of the Unified State Health Information System of the RF and their connection to other regional and federal telemedicine systems;
h) to provide compulsory pre-testing of new medical equipment planned for introduction in the Far North;
3. To recommend the Ministry of Health Care of the RF:
a) to draft a law “On telemedicine services in the Russian Federation” based on the model law adopted by the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and submit it to the State Duma of the Russian Federation;
b) to develop a telemedicine services classifier and include them into the Nomenclature of the medical services;
c) to elaborate regulations on telemedicine services in the RF healthcare system;
d) to amend the standards and procedures of providing medical services by including the application of telemedicine services;
e) to work out requirements to the standard regional telemedicine systems taking into account the issues of compatibility and distance hardware capabilities;
f) to identify document base, terms and conditions under which the telemedicine system will be developed;
g) to amend the requirements to the Unified State Health Information System of the RF regarding integration with regional MIS;
h) to develop a model standardized set of portable equipment to be used in telemedicine purposes in the Arctic regions;
i) to implement a pilot project on integrated telemedicine system of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug based on the existing in the region experience;
4. To recommend the Conference organizers:
a) to send resolution of the Conference to the state bodies and organizations concerned:
the State Duma of the Russian Federation;
the Federation Council of the Russian Federation;
the Ministry of Health Care of the Russian Federation;
the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund;
the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation;
the Ministry of Health Care of the Arkhangelsk Region;
the Administration of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug;
b) to consider publishing the report about the Conference and the resolution in the international journal "Journal of Circumpolar Health";
c) to consider the possibility of holding the conference "Arctic telemedicine" on a regular basis.