The official Telecardiology project website
The project is co-funded by the European Union and by National funds of Greece & Albania
under the IPA Cross-Border PROGRAMME "Greece-Albania 2007-2013"
According to the same analysis the weaknesses are the "Lack of cross-border co-operation in the health sector" and the fact that "High quality hospitals are concentrated in the prefecture capitals with accessibility constraints". And the identified opportunity is telemedicine, while the biggest threat is the “ageing population” (accompanied with increased cardiovascular pathologies in our case).
The proposed project is built around this analysis and aims to use the identified strengths (high training and expertise of the involved cardiologists), in order to tackle the weaknesses (lack of cooperation and access restraints) and use telemedicine, specifically tele-cardiology, so as to increase the standard of living of the population by promoting sustainable local development in the cross-border area.
The need
According to the Programme description "The existing facilities on the Greek side are used by the population of both sides of the border, since hospitals in Albania have been facing extreme shortages in equipment. However these cross-border relations are dealt with on an ad-hoc basis leaving room for further co-operation".
Indeed, a significant movement of patients suffering from heart diseases from Southern Albania to North Western Greece, and in particular to the two hospitals of Epirus, is noted. This movement, that increases both the workload of the clinicians (cardiologists in this project) and the relevant operating costs of hospitals, has led to the idea of creating a wider structure of cooperation between the healthcare providers that cover this area; Regional Hospital “Omer Nishani” of Gjirokaster and General Hospital “G. Hatzikostas” of Ioannina.
According to the SWOT analysis found in the Greece/Albania IPA Cross-Border Programme concerning the R&D, Health and Social provision the strengths are the "Highly developed hospital centres in the prefecture capitals" and the "Highly trained medical personnel". “G. Hatzikostas” and “Omer Nishani” Hospitals represent exactly this strength.
