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News: Newsletter 12

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October 18, 2002

In this newsletter:

  • Free teleradiology testing on the internet
  • Fulfilling the users needs
  • Telemedicine: Show me the market!
  • Russian Telemedicine Foundation: key contact in the Russian telemedicine market
  • Registration for the Telemedicine Trade Fair 2003 opens
  • The Telemedicine Trade Fair's media partners: your window on the world of telemedicine
  • Newsbriefs
  • Conferences


IMCO Technologies International has a special demonstration website in Switzerland where one can try out the IMCO webserver. Not only can you see the features but you can also do a number of operations with the sample images. From wherever you are in the world, looking at the IMCO site in Switzerland gives you the feeling how teleradiology works over any distance via the internet.
To try the test version IMCO WEBSERVER online there are no charges, no obligations! Just contact IMCO by e-mail at . Provide your name, your institution, and of course e-mail address. IMCO will send you your password and instructions. And if you like what you have seen, IMCO can make a test installation of the software in your institution. You will then immediately have images of DICOM modalities to be viewed at any location in your institution (i.e. any location that has your approval). No additional installations for other viewers (e.g. clinicians) are necessary. If you need to, you can watch the images at your home office, or a colleague could view them at yet another location and give a second opinion. The test installation is fully functional for 30 days. Enough time to evaluate how well the product will serve you right in your office or working environment on your own hardware. There are no costs or obligations attached to the demo version! So, you have everything to win and nothing to lose when trying this out! For additional information e-mail to , call +41 71 666 7665 or visit the IMCO website at www.imco-tech.ch. And make sure to visit IMCO Technologies at the Telemedicine Trade Fair in Luxembourg in April 2003!


"Fulfilling the users needs" was one of the topics discussed in the plenary sessions of the Telemedicine Trade Fair 2002. The session was chaired by Silas Olsson, DG Information Society of the European Commission and speakers included Hervé Doaré (EHTEL, France), Francesca Incardona (Arakne, Italy), Ron Poropatich (Walter Reed Army Medical Center, USA), Juan Sancho (IMIM, Spain) and Valery Stolyar (Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Russia). The session focused on the need of training in telemedicine, mobile telemedicine, intelligent applications for clinicians, deployed telemedicine, and highlighted the following conclusions:
The need of training in medicine advances by the use of telemedicine methods. Second medical opinion, by telemedicine applications, was regarded as a very important tool to secure quality.

  • Mobile telemedicine promises a lot for new applications. However, security and privacy have to be demonstrated. A closer cooperation between industry and user was recommended.
  • Telemedicine is on the way to become a tool for disease management in certain areas, like diabetes.
  • Telemedicine is seen as a powerful tool in disaster medicine (earthquakes, etc.) and in a military context.
  • The need for evaluation with multidisciplinary approach of telemedicine applications to help the user in decision making procedures were pointed out.
  • International technical standards are still lacking to integrate telemedicine into other information systems. This was pointed out as a factor delaying decision makers to invest in telemedicine.
  • Telemedicine, as an "interrupt technology", requires new economic/financial models. The old methods are not applicable anymore (where payments very much depended on the physical referral of a patient).

Plans are already underway for the plenary sessions at next year's Telemedicine Trade Fair (April 9-11, 2003) on the following themes: "Cost Effectiveness and Impact Assessment of Telemedicine", "Telemedicine and Developing Countries", "New Emerging Technologies (Intelligent Clothing, Nanotechnology, Bio-Sensors, Implants)", "Industrial Challenges". More news about these sessions will be available soon in the following newsletters and on www.telemedicine.lu.


The plenary sessions of the Telemedicine Trade Fair 2002 were concluded by a debate entitled "Show me the market". Participants in the debate included Silas Olsson (chair), Guido Everaert (Philips HeartCare Telemedicine Services, The Netherlands), Marco Guida (TxT e-Solutions, Italy), Daniel Mart (Association des Médecins et Médecins-Dentistes, Luxembourg), Ron Poropatich (Walter Reed Army Medical Center, USA), Valery Stolyar (Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Russia) and tried to come up with some answers to the following questions: The telemedicine market, and how to get it grow? What are the barriers, and how to overcome them? How to realise new business models? The debate highlighted that although telemedicine has already established a considerable market in some user application areas, like radiology and pathology, it still needs further development. The potential is very large. One of the main barriers for diffusion and use of telemedicine is that, since the beginning of the 1990´s, physicians have been more squeezed into clinical work and virtually have no time available anymore for developing work.
The telemedicine industry should be keen on developing integrated systems and should also take an active part in the evaluation of new systems, considering that the scientific results could become an integral part of the marketing (like in the case of the development of new pharmaceuticals).
The debate also pointed out that collaboration between the industry, academia and users is important to cover a broad range of issues. Assessment should be a part of every telemedicine project, also taking into account the social factors. Education and sharing experiences is vital to learn how to use telemedicine, its pro’s and con’s. And in order to encourage and support physicians in the use of telemedicine, clinical guidelines should be developed.
Finally, the reimbursement issue was also brought up in the debate. This topic is an issue in virtually all types of health care systems and like in many cases, there is no universal solution to be implemented in the short term.
This debate with industry representatives, policy makers, clinical users and academic researchers will also be part again of the Telemedicine Trade Fair 2003 in an effort to raise pertinent questions and to provide answers or suggest solutions which will help the telemedicine market develop into a mature and viable market.


The Russian Telemedicine Foundation (RTF) was established in 1997 on initiative of seven Russian ministries and departments to coordinate activities related to the implementation of telemedicine services in the Russian Federation. The idea of establishing the Foundation arose from the Russian space program, which had already more than 40 years of experience in telemetry applications in medical support of space flights.
The RTF's mission is to provide the population, irrespective of its location, equal access to high quality health care by means of state of the art telemedicine technology applications which meet the world's professional and ethical standards, create a stable and reliable system of services, provide investment incentives and strong medical personnel motivation. The RTF's activities are aimed at formation of state policy on telemedicine, initiating the development of a legal base for telemedicine, providing interdepartmental coordination of the elaboration of state telemedicine programs.
The RTF implements the establishment of the infrastructure for a Russian telemedicine network, formation of a teleconsultation services market, personnel training and other promising trends.
The goal of the RTF activities is to make telemedicine services an attractive sphere of business in Russia. The RTF has wide contacts with business circles, potential investors and creditors interested in the emerging telemedicine market. It expands international collaboration in the area of telemedicine actively interacting with European, American and Asian medical centers, and representing Russian telemedicine within the frame of international organizations.
The Russian Telemedicine Foundation is the Russian national coordinator and official representative of the Telemedicine & Telecare International Trade Fair and arranges the participation of Russian specialists and companies in this unique international forum. In order to find out more about the RTF, to explore business opportunities in Russia, or to get in touch with Russian suppliers of telemedicine equipment and services, make sure to meet with RTF representatives at the Telemedicine Trade Fair 2003 in Luxembourg!


Visitor registration for the Telemedicine Trade Fair 2003 (April 9-11, 2003) is now open. Registration form is available from www.telemedicine.lu. Registration fee is just EUR 25,00 and includes access to the exhibition during 3 days, access to the trade fair's educational programs, and access to the evening receptions on the first and second day of the event. More details about the exhibition and the educational programs will follow in upcoming newsletters and on www.telemedicine.lu.


In your search for up-to-date news and information about telemedicine and healthcare in general, or your search for solid advertising media, the Telemedicine Trade Fair is proud to present it's media partners. These media partners will be represented in the Telemedicine Trade Fair's media corner in Luxembourg in April 2003 where they will provide more in depth information about their publications or online information services. For a current list of media partners and some background information, check out www.telemedicine.lu. If you have a publication or information service which you would also like to feature at the Telemedicine Trade Fair, contact us at to find out more about the possibilities and opportunities for exposure towards an international audience of telemedicine and healthcare service providers, manufacturers, users, researchers and policy makers.


  • Five of the Hottest Markets in Telecom Services --- click here for full story (by Frost & Sullivan).
  • Nanoscale Device Developed For Data Storage --- click here for full story (by Frost & Sullivan).
  • A Digital Future for Europe: Why PACS Will Infiltrate the European Market? --- click here for full story (by Frost & Sullivan).
  • Packing the Financial Punch in a PACS! --- click here for full story (by Frost & Sullivan)
  • Winners of ATSP Second Annual Telehealth Awards Announced --- click here for more details.
  • MobiHealth uses Body Area Network concept to promote personalised mobile health services, Virtual Medical Worlds Monthly reports --- click here for full article.
  • E-health Edmonton Project goes wearable and wireless in remote patient monitoring, Virtual Medical Worlds Monthly reports --- click here for full article.
  • Neurosurgeons perform robotic brain tele-surgery between Halifax and New Brunswick, Virtual Medical Worlds Monthly reports --- click here for full article.
  • International teleradiology provides relief for weary radiologists, PACSweb (an information partnership between AGFA and DIAGNOSTICIMAGING.com) reports --- click here for full article.
  • Finns inaugurate world's largest PACS, PACSweb (an information partnership between AGFA and DIAGNOSTICIMAGING.com) reports --- click here for full article.


  • The First Intensive Balkan Telemedicine Seminar (Telemedicine and Telehealth in Developing Countries: From Inception to Implementation. The future has just begun.) is taking place on October 25-27, 2002 in Prishtina, Kosova. Organised by the International Virtual eHospital and National Telemedicine Center of Kosova, this event will feature international authorities in the field of telemedicine and telehealth who will present an intensive two and a half-day seminar. World-renowned scholars and industry experts will address the many facets involved in transforming healthcare in developing countries. Topics to be included will be building and establishing sustainable telemedicine programs, problems and solutions of clinical applications of telemedicine, tele-education, distance learning, continuous medical education and telesurgery. Other topics to be addressed are telemedicine applications in the home health care environment, prisons and trauma and disasters. There will be live video telemedicine conferences from the US, France and Tunisia. For more information, e-mail to or visit www.ivhospital.org.
  • The European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL) will hold its third annual conference on 28-29 November 2002 in Bruges, Belgium. Titled "Delivering eHealth Across Europe", the conference aims to address the issue of implementing eHealth throughout Europe and the multiple questions, consequences and benefits this implementation raises. While information and communication technologies have yielded solutions, services and products applicable to healthcare and healthcare management, putting these applications to work has been slow, if begun at all, in most of Europe. The missing success factor in many cases has been the lack of an appropriate policy framework able to recognize eHealth as one way to practice medicine. This recognition must come from the levels at which medicine is regulated, implicating the importance a.o. of healthcare insurers in their varying manifestations (private or public, optional or compulsory).
    Meanwhile, on a larger scale, the climate of an expanding European Union and such recent events as the ruling hinting at the free movement of patients by the Court of Justice of Luxembourg are obliging healthcare regulators to look at their policy not just within their respective countries but also across Europe.
    At the occasion of the third annual EHTEL conference, EHTEL, as a neutral forum created to promote the use of eHealth for the benefit of all healthcare actors, invites European healthcare insurers and all other healthcare actors to discuss their visions for the framework conditions needed for the implementation of eHealth and for the role each must play to deliver eHealth across Europe in a efficient and economically viable way. For more information on the conference, visit www.ehtel.org or e-mail to .org.