Telemedicine In Malta 

Telemedicine involves healthcare services delivered through digital mediums. The purpose of telemedicine is to meet the requirements of current healthcare consumers while also improving the capacity to transform healthcare delivery methods, making them convenient, fast and cost-effective. 

Various European countries have started to recognise the worth of telecommunication and its benefits. However, the Maltese healthcare system is still in its early phase regarding this treatment delivery medium. According to the World Health Organisation, the current population of Malta is 460,000while the total expenditure on health per capita in 2014 was $3,072.

The Maltese Healthcare industry can incorporate telemedicine services for transformational cost improvements, development in delivering health supervision to all population divisions, and meeting consumer demand.

Key Qualitative Benefits Of Telemedicine 

According to multiple reports from World Health Organisation and European Commission, Telemedicine can sustain and improve patients’ health and quality of life. 

for those with chronic diseases by enabling more convenient access to medical supervision without bearing travel hazards and expenses. Medical monitoring and check-up at home through video calls and other mediums have expanded life expectancy.

• A study of 14 random controlled trials which included 4264 patients, revealed that due to medical monitoring programs, the rates of admission to hospital for chronic heart failure decreased by 21%and increased mortality by almost 20%
  
  
• In recent years, telemedicine has also emerged as a unique supports system for patients, especially on oral anticoagulation therapy (blood-thinning drugs), by enabling self-management
  
  
• According to a study conducted by the Institute for Applied Telemedicine in Düsseldorf, Germany, telemedicine can be an effective medium to support patients in the self-management of oral anticoagulation therapy. The study included 1300 patients who were observed for one year and treating them through telemedicine services. The results showed increased patient self-confidence and better self-management due to constant medical support.
  
  
• In this prolonged exercise, telemedicine was used to train patients effectively on coping with their disease and treatment, to get medical feedback when needed and eventually to monitor their health condition autonomously in a safer way.
  
  
• Telemedicine is a useful tool to provide services for a maximum number of patients by a minimum number of professionals, particularly in areas with limited healthcare resources such as Malta. The services can enhance healthcare provision's effectiveness, quality and timeliness by considerably reducing the waiting time through teleradiology procedures.
  
  

For instance, it has been estimated that by facilitating remote checks on patients through telemedicine, the total annual savings estimated per patient were determined to be €292 in France and €712 in Germany, which amounted to 30% and 61% savings, respectively. 

Moreover, telemedicine has also made it possible to provide growth for the European economy. The global market is snowballing and is anticipated to proceed with high growth rates in the coming years. European industry, which involves many SMEs in this division, is in a great place to profit from this expanding market.

Because broader deployment of telemedicine has the potential to transform the way healthcare is delivered, early treatment compliance based on monitoring data may stabilise a given health condition and avoid acute adverse events. Eventually, these innovations will help to shift from the current reactive and acute care-focused healthcare model to a more preventive, proactive and highly personalised one.

The Market Potential For Telemedicine 

The global market for telemedicine and eHealth, in general, is approximately worth €60 billion, of which Europe represents only one-third, i.e. €20 billion. Telemedicine, therefore, is considered the third largest sector in the health industry, after pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

The European pharmaceutical market is estimated to be around €205 billion, and the annual sales figure of the European medical technology industry is €64 billion — making up one-third of the world market share. The potential for the market of telemedicine in Europe is a crucial part of the overall eHealth sector, and not only that but there is a multitude of examples of optimistic estimates of growth. 

According to the report by the Scottish Government, Telecare in Scotland: Embracing the Future, Benchmarking the Present, it was estimated that the telemedicine sector globally was valued at around $5.8 billion in the year 2007, with the chances to see substantial growth of almost 20% per annum in the next 4 years.

Pushing telemedicine will be beneficial for eHealth market growth since telemedicine services have the potential to be integrated with numerous other services, such as electronic health records and personal health systems. Finally, it can also be an additional incentive for the Member States to accelerate the roll-out of broadband, a prerequisite for well-functioning telemedicine.

Scope Of Telemedicine In Malta 

According to the survey conducted by the European Commission, all healthcare units in Malta are attached to broadband, which is uniformly shared over the various broadband speeds. Hence, we can safely postulate that Malta has the required network for adopting telemedicine, having a single and unified wireless infrastructure and integrated system for e-referral. Malta currently uses the My health portal for residents, which enables residents to easily access some health data like tests results from lab work.

But there are many challenges ahead of the government to initiate effective measures to encourage and support the telemedicine industry in the country. In many hospitals, many patient records are kept from being kept electronically. The most extensive amount of patient records is managed by the Medical Records Department, which still saved around 450,000 volumes of patient files. The survey indicates the lack of any telemonitoring in Maltese hospitals.

If telemedicine becomes fully functional in Malta, it can promote efforts to significantly increase healthcare quality by enhancing approachability and performance by diminishing travel issues, implementing easy clinical support, defeating geographic restrictions, operating through various communication devices, and improving health rates among patients. 

Telemedicine And Mental Health 

One of the most significant advantages that the Maltese Healthcare industry can acquire from telemedicine is in the field of psychiatry. The initiative can not only reduce the cost for patients, but it can also be a convenient method for conducting sessions for doctors. 

The report from the World Health Organisation reveals that Malta possesses a mental health facility and a unique psychiatric system inside its general hospitals, volunteering to offer both outpatient and inpatient services. Malta features amongst the countries with the highest rates of psychiatric patient beds for every 100,000 citizens in community psychiatric inpatient units in Europe (WHO, 2017). 

In many countries, Telepsychiatry is utilised not only for private therapy sessions but also to provide mental health services to hospitals, institutions, rehab facilities, and military treatment facilities. Following are some advantages of telemedicine in the field of psychiatry. 

Automated Evaluation –Most methods to conduct mental health sessions are time-consuming and expensive. Several automated methods have been developed according to the type of data and the required analysis.

Assessing Biosignals– Through advanced telepsychiatry, people’s physical and mental conditions can be better assessed by checking their biological signals, such as electrocardiograms and electroencephalograms (EKG and EEG). 

 Accurate Behaviour Analysis– Image analysis techniques have been generated to study a person’s face, expression, feelings, and associated symptoms.

Convenient Accessibility– As telemedicine reduces travelling time and expenditure, accessibility to mental health in Malta can be increased through online sessions. On average rate, a single psychiatrist can conduct 10% more online sessions compared to regular ones.  

GP Practices In Malta And Telemedicine

Malta’s public healthcare system and private healthcare system are free at the point of delivery. The life expectancy of birth, according to the latest records of the National Statistics Office, 2016 is 82.1 years, social protection in Malta is a priority. 15.64 per cent of the general government's total expense is allotted to the healthcare industry in the country. 

Following telemedicine compatibility and infrastructure, 65% of the Maltese GP practices utilize a computer system among which, 55% of them have internet.

However, the area's consultation through a computer is limited; only 27% of GP practitioners use the Decision Support Systems. 

Although telemedicine can potentially upgrade the Maltese healthcare system, there is still little exposure of eHealth applications in Malta. This can be changed with efficient telemedicine services and government reforms as the matter of telemedicine and eHealth has come into the limelight only very recently on the political spectrum in Malta

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