FM MU joined the Memorandum of Cooperation for Computerization of Healthcare and Telemedicine

Thanks to the memorandum, 19 stakeholders will cooperate for the next ten years. Apart from Brno, the South Moravian Region, Ministry of Health, Brno hospitals and universities including their top scientific institutes, also joined the initiative. Representatives of health insurance companies and the Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic are also a part of the initiative. These institutions will cooperate on the development of electronic tools and applications, which will expand the accessibility of health services,” stated the mayor of the City of Brno, Markéta Vaňková.

A group of experts, composed of representatives of the stakeholders, will also be created. The goal of the initiative is to develop and deepen the knowledge in telemedicine. “Telemedicine is a field that is developing dynamically. In the Czech Republic, workplaces dealing with computerisation of healthcare have been established since 2003. For example, the St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno uses an application called “Surgery without borders”. An example of good practice is also a pilot project of smart bracelets Neurosmart, which monitors children with epilepsy as well as patients with Alzheimer’s disease. In Brno, we have been supporting telemedicine since 2018 and I am glad that thanks to our initiative, it will now develop at a truly top level,” said Petr Hladík, First Deputy Mayor of Brno.

Telemedicine deals with remote transmission of medical information. Thanks to a remote connection such as through a video, e-mail, smartphone application and other wireless tools, the doctor can provide their services even if the patient remains in the comfort of their own home. It is a remote consultation or monitoring of the condition of chronically ill patients. Most often, it is the information about patient’s blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature that is being transmitted to the doctor’s office. The system of at-home monitoring reduces the frequency of doctor visits and at the same time maintains safety for patients as the important information is constantly monitored.

Furthermore, this type of medicine is used for disease prevention and for the cooperation of expert doctors over long distances, often in areas where there is lack of medical care. “We want to support this trend as much as possible. As we all found out during the lockdown period, we could handle many situations from home. Modern times require modern solutions and technology allows us to innovate our approach to medical care. Different types of portable sensors could significantly improve the lives of people with epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease, these are the questions the expert team will study. The city of Brno is also preparing the opening of the National Telemedicine Monitoring Centre, which will be part of the social and health complex at Červený kopec,” added Petr Hladík.

The signatories of the Memorandum of Cooperation for Computerization of Healthcare and Telemedicine are: The South Moravian region, Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic, Centre of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantations, University Hospital Brno, St. Anne’s University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University, Statutory City of Brno, Central European Institute of Technology of Masaryk University, Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute, the NEUROSMART endowment fund, Hospital of the Merciful Brothers, Trauma Hospital Brno, Institute of Health Information and Statistics of the Czech Republic, Military Hospital Brno, Military Health Insurance Company, Brno University of Technology, Emergency Medical Service of the South Moravian Region, Health Insurance Company of the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic.

Prof. PhDr. Andrea Pokorná, Ph.D., who hosted the ceremonial meeting for the signing of the Memorandum and is also responsible for leading the mentioned working group stated: “The Memorandum is an expression of interest of many important stakeholders cooperating in the field of telemedicine. The start of the cooperation will make it possible to share the expertise of the various stakeholders and their previous experience in this area. The main goal is to support telemonitoring and telemedicine to improve the quality of health and social services provided. Most of the representatives of the institutions that have joined the Memorandum are developing telemonitoring tools and will now be able to develop them on a wider platform. The important thing is that the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic and representatives of health insurance companies are also part of the Memorandum.”