ICTs for Rural Health Care services in Mongolia

SYNTHESIS OF THE PROJECT (2003-2006):
The general objective of this project is to initiate research, development and experimentation in distance medical diagnosis and consultancy and in distance learning for rural medical doctors using Internet based applications-

The specific objectives were:
To establish distance diagnosis centers at the Health Sciences University of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar and within medical centers in three selected rural areas.
To experiment with new methods of delivering Internet based distance diagnosis and consultation of health care for patients in selected areas and to build and strengthen a research and practitioner network of health care between specialist family doctors and front line medical personnel.
To investigate, assess, and adapt various medical distance diagnosis technologies using the low bandwidth Internet that is available for rural areas of Mongolia today, and to train medical specialists for this purpose.
To train educational instructors for web based teaching technologies and methodologies of the project.
To prepare new web based resource for the purpose of supplying training materials for continuous education of rural doctors.
To evaluate the project and formulate recommendations for continuous training of doctors and introduction of telemedicine and distance diagnosis.
The doctor system and distance learning system were developed for Mongolia’s unique situation. Five rural areas were selected for telemedicine. A total of 700 trainees attended, 163 physicians associated with the distance learning system, 37 physicians associated with the Doctor system, and 83 patients were advised regarding their diagnoses and treatments. The trainees were chosen in regard to their prior experience with information technology and their social presence. Emphasis was directed to enhancing their knowledge and skill in the use of computers and the internet.