There are so many factors to help to make the telemedicine project in India succeed.  Those are : leaderships(got a strong support from the government), well-established infrastructure, Also, according to Dr. Mishra any telemedicine project needs a “champion” to lead the project from start to finish. Those CSFs are identified for telemedicine project are : accessibility, Satisfactory, Quality, Security and Performance.

•         Satisfactory : Doctors, patients are happy with the technology

•         Accessibility: convenience of participation(during all the video conference all the participants seems to be happy with the technology)

•         Quality : clear pictures and images

•         Security: using VPN or https to protect patient’s information

•         Performance : have some interruption during the first conference but it would be able to reconnect again(more problem if we use MCP(multiple control point)

5) Issues:

During some of the teleconsulation, we experimented some issues related to the technology like loosing connections between location/nodes during the conference, consultation/meeting due to the limited bandwidth.  In addition, according to doctors there were some concern related to privacy raising by patients and their families.  They are still working on guideline and standardization for procedures and methods related to telemedicine project.

They are not ready for telehome and just start on telepsytriachy based on our interviewed with them.

6) Social Activities:

In this trip, we also have a chance to learn about India culture by visting Tajmahal, India Gate, Kutab Minar….We also had the opportunity to enjoy India cuisine by trying different dishes in local restaurants. All the dishes are delicious. The services provided by local restaurant, hotel seemed to be good and tried to be please customers as much as they could. Even we were having problem like water leaking at the hotel room on the first day at New Delhi and the hot weather caused us got sweat all the time. We all had the good feeling about the trip and all activities that we were involved as a group during the trip(like using the train to go from New Delhi to Lucknow). It helped to create a good bond between us(among the travelers)

At the final day at Lucknow, we were invited to have dinner with Dr. Mishra and his staffs. It was a pleasant feeling to me because we were welcome by SGPIMS and its staff. It also made me surprise by seeing people from different classes from the society seems to be happy even they are poor and living in the difficult condition.

And the sad thing as we had to leave and went back to the USA. We said goodbye to everyone and hope might be back in the future( for visiting or working). It was a wonderful learning experience for me because I get to know more about the other culture and made new friends. However, it’s nice to be back to the USA(home). I missed my kids!!!!

Even with the differences in social structure and regulation in practicing telemedicine between India and USA, I feel that telemedicine will be widely adopted in USA if we are able to resolve issues related to confidentiality and privacy in the USA. We also need to address issues related to malpractice in medicine and working on standardization.  However, there will be more and more people move forward to understand/learn/educate and practice telemedicine.

To be able to succeed in any future telemedicine project, we need good funding, leaderships, well- established infrastructure, a champion on any project and a good vision.  Those are required the participation from different level of government (both local and federal), research institute, medical practitioner (doctors, nurses…), and the good infrastructure (fiber optics, equipments….).

There are still many challenges ahead of us for practicing telemedicine in USA but I have a strong belief in the technology for helping us to bring the access of health care services for underserved population, monitoring public health services and help us for preventing outbreak in the public.  Finally, I would like to express my many thanks for the warm welcome from Dr.  Mishra and his staff from SGPIMS and all the presentation and knowledge that they are willing and enthusiasm sharing with us during our visit to their facilities from August 03.  2008 to August 13, 2008. I also would like to say so many thanks to Professor Samir for  organized the trip and guided us through the tour. Without you, we would not have a pleasant trip with extensive learning telemedicine, India culture, social networking, and so on.