Had there not been a possibility for teleconsultation, the patient would have to be transferred by air to the hospital in Arkhangelsk, or a medical team would have had to be sent to the local hospital. In cases of critical illness there may not be time for lengthy transport. The main purpose of telemedicine is to save the cost of transportation. The program uses still images and loudspeaking telephones to conduct lectures. The majority of the lectures have been aimed at training nurses, but other professionals were present.
Interactive audio is accomplished using a speaker phone.
In the course of 1998 - 2000, six more hospitals will be included in the still image network. A Mobile Telemedicine Unit will be added to the Arkhangelsk hospital to ensure communication with traveling doctors and their teams. The university of Tromso also plans to evaluate the project to determine quality of services and cost effectiveness. The program Doris will be translated into Russian. Tove Sorenson finished her presentation sharing lessons learned.