Boario Home Care Project: an Italian telemedicine experience

The use of telemedicine appears particularly promising in cardiovascular disease, because the cost/effectiveness ratio of an early, tailored intervention, in terms of life-saving and functional recovery is demonstrated. Boario Home Care project was born in 1998, with the aim of applying the new models of disease management and the new technology on the territory. In the first phase the project was to realize a telematic network for the General Practitioners in a mountain territory; In the second phase the project was extended to the regional and then national territory and the number of enrolled GPs increased. In the third phase, that is nowadays, the structure of the Service Center has been implemented with new broad band technologies (HDLS) and with an innovative teleworking model has been adopted for the professional figures involved. Four different types of services are now available: General Practitioners, Home Telenursing for chronic patients, Tele-diagnosis for palpitations and Call Center Services for hospitals. In conclusion, Boario Home Care project has reached its maturity and many results even if we can consider them preliminary in the field of Telemedicine. Boario Home Care project won e-health Awards with the honourable mention and it was presented at the "eHealth 2003: ICT for Health" in Brussels, Belgium.