The situation here in Pakistan is not very impressive, but some private hospitals are taking initiatives to use telemedicine. The data is displayed on monitors by entering Patient Medical Record Number, without losing time in transferring the results on papers. It also maintains medical records for research purposes, and uses the paging system to contact consultants, residents and interns. Another good example is Alvi Dental Hospital, Karachi, which is providing teledentistry facilities via Internet. Patients have to send a scanned photograph with detailed history, and then a panel of dentists analyzes them and gives free advice on dental needs.
Patients can also book their appointments via the Internet.
Two years ago, Cardiac Surgeons used Video Conferencing by linking Lahore and Rawalpindi to telecast Cardiac Surgery in real time. Some Pakistani Web sites are dedicated to providing health advice at no charge, and giving medical information and access to various medical links. For example Yuppie Homeopath is a Web site that offers free homeopathy treatment. Imtiaz A Khokhar MD is offering free consultancy. Some other hospitals like Shifa International Hospital and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital are using computers for maintaining data but not in the true sense of telemedicine.