SINCE the pandemic began, just 38% of family pediatricians have had a television program. To reverse the trend, it is necessary to invest in training: only in this way can telemedicine be implemented in the field of primary care, so that it becomes a lasting resource for our national health system. The request comes from the XV National Congress of the Italian Federation of Pediatric Doctors (FIMP), the most important scientific event in family pediatrics, taking place in Baveno (VB) until Saturday 9 October.
The theme of telemedicine is central. “It represents an undoubted resource to be strengthened as Covid-19 has shown, which in this sense has been an accelerator of ongoing processes”, says Paolo Biasci, President of the FIMP: “However, if it is still not widespread, it is clear that there are cultural, structural and organizational limits that must be resolved “.
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There are about 7,000 family pediatricians present throughout the country and on which a training project can be started. “There are also structural problems that go beyond the health sector and that make access to telematic services difficult”, continues Biasci: “Some family pediatricians, in fact, work in mountainous areas, or in any case very isolated, where it is often difficult to have a strong enough connection. Finally, not all families have the tools and knowledge to access telemedicine services “.
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“Telemedicine is part of a wider ecosystem with technological infrastructures that must process the interaction of different data”, continues Francesco Gabbrielli, Director of the National Center for Telemedicine and New Assistive Technologies of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS): ” Therefore, a solid organization and a health operations center are required for each telemedicine service to be able to manage a delicate system, but at the same time full of great potential. We are also working in this direction in the area of primary and territorial care. However, as often happens, innovation and scientific-technological progress correspond to slowness, especially at the regulatory level. Covid-19, the various lockdowns and the constant social and health emergency have shown that there is no more time to waste. The same goes for the training of health professionals – he concludes – who need specific skills that also take into account the needs of their patients “.