Vodafone Telemedicine Programme: driving the future of healthcare

What is Vodafone’s Telemedicine Programme?

Vodafone’s Telemedicine Programme (VTP) is an end-to-end telemedicine system to support patient management, monitoring and clinical care. Since launching in 2013, the programme has been implemented in 100 remote mainland regions and islands.

More than 500 doctors have been trained in the programme and more than 51,000 virtual appointments have been conducted. Almost 75% of patients reported a reduction in the number of hospital visits and 90% of doctors thought that the greatest benefit was the ability to deliver better quality care to their patients.

Why does healthcare need digital solutions and eHealth?

EU healthcare systems are struggling as demand increases and supply constraints rise. An aging population paired with growing rates of chronic disease means that healthcare systems are struggling to cope.

The shortage of care professionals in the EU is anticipated to reach 4.1 million by 2030, with the number of acute care beds per 1,000 habitants well below where they should be for developed nations.

COVID-19 has intensified these issues, as non-urgent care has had to be de-prioritised in order to respond to the crisis, leading to a backlog of patients needing care.

Now more than ever, digitisation is a key part of the future of healthcare services. Helping to save lives by enabling more efficient use of resources, better training and patient communication.

Virtual consultation with a doctor. Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

The challenge in Greece

Greece, like many other EU countries, is facing an aging population who are often widely distributed across rural areas.

However, more challengingly, this rural population is also distributed across islands, with some patients having to frequently travel to the mainland to healthcare in the absence of a specialist doctor close to them.

This can be inconvenient, costly and even impossible for some patients who may put off accessing care they need.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, plans are being put in place to “build back better by design”. Recovery must be focused not just on the economy, but also on ensuring everyone has access to critical public services, such as healthcare, which has been under mounting pressure in recent years.

Find out more about eHealth and Vodafone’s Telemedicine Programme.