Telemedicine Anyware: Data management component

The TELemedicine ANYwhere (TelAny) project was based on the medical community's organisational needs. Economic and technological factors heavily determine the way medical practice has been evolving. In the near future the traditional model of direct contact between patients and institutions during routine practice and hospital admissions will not be appropriate for the treatment of pathologies that need a continuous follow up of patients at their location. The other most typical case of remote assistance is emergency. TelAny addressed both those issues in a comprehensive approach. The project covered emergency and on-field telemedicine scenarios in extreme cases, for instance, by accessing life signals from patients using devices implanted in their bodies, by aiding in emergencies on board ships. All data collected during the project demonstration sessions was stored centrally in a large database accessible to consulting specialists. The project contained medical, telecommunications and software information. The co-operation between different communities of professionals allowed to accomplish the difficult goal of increasing the potential user awareness of the benefits of telemedicine.