Improving the quality of access to health care, improvement in care, patient education and timely treatment, for example monitoring the condition of chronic patients, reducing patient travel, better access to services in deprived areas, increasing access to medical information based on new knowledge, programs related to Distance learning and tracking of medical research information and improvement in medical education is continuous. Tele-otolaryngology also has a great clinical effect in the treatment of military personnel in war and remote areas, which reduces the burden of transporting patients and reduces the prevalence of diseases, thus reducing costs.
Considering the high statistics of ear diseases and the placement of many specialists in the city centers, as well as the potential benefits of using remote communication technologies in the diagnosis, control and treatment of diseases, the development of Tele-ENT is considered by removing the limitations of access to ear specialist services. , throat and nose in rural and remote areas, which will reduce the consequences of not controlling the disease, which will contribute effectively to the health of the society. This research introduces the application of remote medicine in ear, throat and nose diseases using appropriate equipment and necessary information elements to transfer information and benefits of using tele-otolaryngology.
The most common equipment for sending and receiving information is the otoscope and standard video otoscopes connected to the screen for diagnosis and treatment of the disease (history of the disease, scan and radiology results, images of the tympanic membrane and laboratory results and the results of previous consultations).
In general, the use of videootoscopy is known to be useful for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the middle ear and tympanic membrane. Telemedicine stores and sends digital images, medical history, and audiograms, which are now widely used for the examination and follow-up of patients with otitis media. Perforation of the tympanic membrane, tympanostomy tube, hearing loss and examination of hearing aids are used.
The minimum information required to send information to the consulting physician includes demographic information (name and family name of the patient, identification number, date of service) and information for diagnosis and treatment of the disease (history of the disease, scan and radiology results, images of the eardrum and laboratory results and results of previous consultations). This information should be included in software designed for tele-otolaryngology. In the development of the otology program, it is necessary to prepare high-quality digitized images of the tympanic membrane and ear canal, to have the patient's clinical history, audiometric and tympanometric information, and other information that guides the specialist in the direction of correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
Remote medical consultations in various specialties are one of the applications of telemedicine.