The world’s most remote inhabited island can now access advanced telemedical care, thanks to pro-bono services and support from a high-technology team led by IBM and Beacon Equity Partners. Tristan da Cunha is located more than 1,665 miles west of Cape Town, South Africa, and is accessible only by a boat trip lasting a week or more. Some 270 British citizens call the island home. IBM and Beacon Equity Partners joined Medweb, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the Government of Tristan da Cunha in announcing the successful implementation of “Project Tristan.”   This tested and proven remote medical solution combines medical equipment, satellite communications and remotely supported electronic health-record (EHR) technology, allowing medical experts from anywhere in the world to assist island clinicians in their daily practices with medical diagnoses and emergency support. Until recently, the island’s only physician, Dr. Carel Van der Merwe, has had to rely upon minimal technology and limited medical support. Working from a hospital without so much as its own telephone to provide care for patients, he has often performed life-saving diagnoses and procedures without proper equipment or specialized expertise. Lacking a communications system that could accept email attachments, help in interpreting X-Rays or ECGs, he has depended on digital images scanned, printed and faxed to specialists thousands of miles away, delaying diagnoses by days. With no airstrip on the island, emergency evacuation or outside medical intervention has been and remains today virtually impossible. Project Tristan,which is based on open standards and runs on the Linux Operating System, is expected to greatly enhance the island’s level of medical care and standard of living. The island’s physician is now able to electronically capture and share medical data and information, including X-Rays and ECGs as well as pulmonary function uations and video camera examinations with physician consultants. Satellite communications will enable clinicians to provide real-time diagnostic advice and suggested treatments to the attending physician.

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