How Ukraine amazes the world with online medicine

Ukrainians help Ukrainians

It is February, that is, the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. On this occasion, the people of Ukraine recollect the shock of the first days and the pain of long weeks. Ukrainians bow their heads in respect to the memory of those who died. All citizens of Ukraine thank the military and thank Ukraine, where great many volunteer movements arose, all people united and began to help each other.

In addition, all Ukrainians noted the feat of those who imperceptibly do vital work. People’s lives are saved not only in shelters. Medics did not stop appointments, and the experience of our online consultations is studied all over the world. It is worth noting that one of the articles in the latest issue of the famous US medical journal The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is dedicated to Ukrainian telemedicine. The story of the experience of our medical system at such a high level means one thing and that is recognition. NEJM is the most popular periodical medical journal in the world. This edition is considered one of the most influential. For us, this publication is an occasion to sum up the results of the year.

Health Tech Without Borders was founded just days after the Russian invasion. The main purpose of creating this organization was to establish and develop a platform for online consultations. The project was supported by more than 700 medical volunteers from all over the world. With the help of these volunteers, consultations were held on our Doctor Online platform. The authors of the NEJM article use data on the number of online consultations as of mid-September: at that time, telemedicine services were used 62,806 times.

One of the researchers' conclusions is interesting: "It is vital to have strong partners in different parts of the country who can promote telemedicine in the local community." In addition, the past year has shown that even if the whole world helps, local companies have an advantage. It is more practical when Ukrainians help Ukrainians.

The issue is not only the language barrier and time zones (when the American volunteers had free time, the Ukrainians were already asleep). Also, the problem is not that the war turned out to be a marathon and not everyone was ready for it. The fact is that European and American medics have a different mentality, a different, drier style of communication and a different approach in recommendations. Ukrainians want to see a medic not only as a professional, but also as a friend. For many citizens, it is important not only to share symptoms, but also to talk about their well-being in a friendly conversation.

It is worth paying attention to the following statistics. Most often, consultations were reduced to prevention rather than treatment. It is about 42.4%. Most likely, the state of panic and the need to talk pushed Ukrainians to online consultation. Sometimes it happened that the medic assumed the functions of a psychologist, and after questioning a different picture appeared, it turned out that not everything was so sad and bad and the symptoms were just made up.

Infections rank second among complaints (19.5%), pediatrics – third (6.6%). The thing is that mothers who moved abroad often asked for a consultation, they were interested in a second medical opinion. Dermatology and neurology are fourth and fifth in our statistics (5.3% in both cases). In this case, it should be noted that many diseases are the result of stress. Complaints about injuries are in the last place in the statistics of online consultations, with 0.2%.

Our online consultation platform was and remains in demand among the refugees. Most of those who left for Europe did not understand how to get primary medical care. The most painful issue is the quick availability, the high point of waiting for reception in the European Union. That's right, sometimes the symptoms may disappear at the time of the consultation.

Although, it is worth noting that Ukrainian patients are not always understandable and logical for European and American medics. Again, to quote the NEJM: "Ukrainian patients have a higher rate of comorbidities and a lower rate of vaccination compared to patients from the European Union."

Despite some differences in the treatment approaches, Ukrainian and foreign medics have a common opinion that telemedicine has a future. Its development is an important priority not only for Ukraine, but for all countries. The success of our project inspires specialists from all over the world and sets ambitious tasks. If telemedicine can support the population in a war zone, why can't it support patients anywhere in the world? Ukraine demonstrates how the practice of telemedicine can be rapidly implemented and offers a model that can be adapted to support people in other complex and crisis situations.

We survived a difficult year and continue to go forward. The New England Journal of Medicine published statistics from February to September. The months that have passed since the fall have shown that online consultations are becoming more and more popular. Over almost a year of the war, there were 108,000 of them on the Ukrainian medical platform. In addition, during the day, our medics are contacted approximately 500 times. It can be said that one of the lessons already learned from full-scale war is the importance of health care.

Read this article in russian and Ukrainian.