A step in telemedicine and expanding all over Greece

November 22, 2022

The development of a modern, secure and high-availability telemedicine system that will cover the whole country and will support the provision of health services to the inhabitants of the inaccessible areas of the country, has been initiated by the Information Society. The project, with a budget of 36,2 million Euros, utilizes the valuable experience gained from the operation of the National Telemedicine Network (EDIT) in the Piraeus and Aegean Health Prefecture (YPE). This is an infrastructure that during its operation has carried out 10,000 telemedicine appointments in ten specialties with the cooperation of 200 certified doctors and nurses of the National Healthcare System (ESY). In its current form, EDIT includes 66 Patient-Physicians Telemedicine Stations covering hospitals, health centres and multifaceted regional clinics, 21 Medical Consultant Telemedicine Stations placed in 12 hospitals in Piraeus and in Aegean islands, at the Papageorgiou Hospital of Thessaloniki and 170 At Home Care Stations placed in patients hospitalized at home or in social care facilities. The existing network also includes a training centre and a user support centre, while the data centre is housed in the high availability data centre of the General Secretariat of Information Systems for Public Administration.
In the context of the international tender announced by Information Society, the existing infrastructure of EDIT is enriched and its scope of action is extended to cover the Health Regions of Attica (1st Health Prefecture), Macedonia and Macedonia – Thrace (3rd and 4th Health Prefecture), Thessaly and Central Greece (5th Health Prefecture), Peloponnese, Ionian Islands, Epirus and Western Greece (6th Health Prefecture) and Crete (7th Health Prefecture). In detail, the following will be installed:

305 new Patient-Physician Telemedicine Stations and 35 new Medical Consultant Telemedicine Stations to be installed in specific Health Structures.
500 tablets for doctors
3,000 Home Monitoring Systems
5 Telemedicine Training Stations, 3 new Regional Support Centres and 1 Monitoring and Control Centre

Also diagnostic medical equipment and telemedicine software, as well as configuration services are included.
The purpose of the project, funded by the Public Investment Program and the Recovery Fund, is to provide equal access for all residents of the country, regardless of their place of residence, to high-level health services provided by the National Healthcare System. The coverage of the needs of the medical and nursing staff for access to a high level of continuous education is equally important, as well as the access to sources of valid information and knowledge, together with the exercise of their duties and regardless of where they are stationed.
The main objectives of the project include equal access of residents and visitors to remote areas of the country to high-level health services, without the limits set by geographical restrictions. The operation of the new EDIT is expected to save significant resources for the State, as it is estimated that the transport of patients to health centres of large urban centres will be limited , as well as the movements of doctors and nurses. Furthermore, it is expected that a sense of security will be established and the health indicators of the inhabitants of the islands and other remote areas will be improved.