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SPOTLIGHT ON

Satellite increases access to reliable, cost-effective, high-speed broadband services that are critical for the delivery of broadband-enabled healthcare solutions all over the world.

Telehealth and telemedicine services are vital to the healthcare system. With a growing and aging population globally, the demand for medical services is increasing, putting a strain on existing healthcare frameworks. Satellite allows these services to reach remote parts of a country and provide quality healthcare to those in need, so avoiding the need for to relocate to main cities.

Wide Area Coverage Reliability

Satellites are capable of providing a large Satellites are located in space and therefore amount of coverage with minimal ground are not vulnerable to natural and manmade infrastructure. This allows broadband to reach disasters on earth, unlike terrestrial networks. remote areas that would be cost prohibitive to Therefore they are critical components for reach using terrestrial broadband. Satellite emergency response services and the delivery coverage is available from the day a satellite of telehealth services. network is put into commercial use.

Cost-Efficiency

Using satellite means that the significant cost involved in rolling out fiber to each individual user can be avoided, making it easier, cheaper and faster to connect more dispersed and less densely populated regions of a country. Unlike fiber, once a satellite network is deployed, the cost to reach individual users is nominal. This makes satellite a cost effective solution to reach and serve citizens in rural and remote areas.

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The characteristics of satellite broadband make it a foundational platform to ensure sufficient broadband capacity is available and accessible to both providers and patients in rural and remote communities.

Broad Broad coverage offered by satellite services makes them ideal providers for dispersed networks, such as integrated hospital networks that have multiple facilities throughout a coverage region, state, or even a country. Satellite providers have decades of experience in designing Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that can protect sensitive information while offering nationwide integrated solutions for primary care facilities that use Cloud-based services for treatment of patients and transmission of patient records between providers.

Ubiquitous Ubiquitous satellite coverage increases the ability of communities to adopt remote patient programs, as cost-efficient broadband is available to both the health satellite care facility and the patient at home. Once a patient has a broadband connection, a coverage health care provider will also be able to provide them will additional services, including high quality voice and videoconferencing services for interfacing with their primary care practitioners without leaving home.

Satellite Satellite broadband offers “always on” reliability, further enabling patients to connect with healthcare providers at any time, regardless of the weather or the perceived security broadband of their surroundings. In this sense, satellite networks can be used as the primary service connection for a community, and it can also offer path diversity for critical communication networks to ensure that there are no service outages that disrupt connectivity between patients and care providers.

Satellite Operators already support a wide variety of Telehealth applications around the world and in a variety of different ways

The variety of telehealth services enabled by satellite include managing cloud access, electronic records sharing, remote diagnosis, billing and compliance, remote monitoring and conferenced doctor’s appointments. y Supporting healthcare on the move Satellite is particularly useful for reaching patients who may be out at sea, whether they are on government, commercial, or private vessels. It allows on-board doctors to connect with medical professionals on shore to help treat and evaluate patients. Aero- connectivity enabled by satellite can also prove critical for emergencies that occur in-flight. Satellites have been used to develop cloud infrastructure to facilitate data exchanges between professionals and medical frameworks around the globe. y Supporting isolated communities Satellites work with in remote regions to gather patient medical information and send it real time via satellite mobile broadband to secure servers that allow urban doctors to monitor villagers’ health and provide necessary medical attention. Additionally, satellites have been used to provide training and services directly to medical workers in remote communities. y Providing Relief after Disasters Immediately following a disaster, mobile and portable satellite communications are typically the only connectivity option available. These services provide aid to emergency medical teams, collect information on affected persons, and help to establish connectivity for temporary clinics.

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Case studies

1 Satellite connectivity for healthcare outcomes in Nigeria1

Through collaboration between a satellite operator, a university, a federal Ministry of health and its various regional ministries, this program has extended the reach of basic medical services into remote areas of Nigeria. It delivers professional training, data collection and disease monitoring into hard-to-reach areas that are inaccessible by conventional methods. By providing video-based health worker training, improving health systems management and governance using an information system application and improving disease surveillance capabilities, the Program directly improves local health. Satellite allows the logistical and technical challenges faced by industries like with the last portion of the network that physically reaches the service user to be overcome and creates a model that can be extended into other parts of the country. The Program improves health and consequently participation in the economy and education, directly promoting welfare and economic development.

2 SATMED in Bangladesh2

SATMED is a high quality, e-health platform enabled by satellite that is open, easy-to use, readily available and accessible anywhere and provides satellite-enhanced connectivity. It provides access and storage of patient e-records, , virtual consultation, e-learning, remote monitoring and e-health management In Bangladesh, Friendship is a project

Friendship Floating Hospital - SATMED offering healthcare to the most remote and inaccessible riverbank areas of the Gaibandha and Kurigram districts in northern Bangladesh, as well as areas in the south including Bagerhat, Patuakhali and Barguna districts. The platform allows medical records to be shared across three hospital ships visiting the remote areas and the information to be synchronized at the Dhaka headquarters. It also enables interaction with visiting medical staff from around the world. SATMED has been deployed 10 times in different countries. In Bangladesh alone, it already improves healthcare for up to 200,000 patients each year.

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/inmarsat-nigeria-satellite-connectivity-for-healthcare 2 https://www.satmed.com/project_bangladesh.php www.esoa.net SPOTLIGHT ON TELEHEALTH

3 Healthcare Digital Messaging3

Getting critical, confidential information out quickly to a large, distributed workforce has always been a challenge. By using a cloud-based solution, this Digital Messaging system allows the enormous volume of constantly changing data associated with health care to be effectively communicated through rapid and reliable communications. The System blends dynamic video, text, and graphics on a network of digital signs to deliver communications to patients, employees, and guests. Medical facilities can use it to publish news, medical information, and facility announcements at the same time, to any number of locations.

4 SATCARE4 & Connected Ambulances

SatCare is a project being developed in Belgium, Spain and Scotland to improve first-aid services, remote diagnosis and treatment for patients on board ambulances. The objective of the project is to extend the capabilities of first responders, allowing live interaction between them and remotely based doctors and equipment to deliver the correct treatment immediately, at the place of intervention or en route to the hospital. SatCare is based upon satellite communications being integrated into remotely connected medical terminals. The emergency response vehicle is equipped with a mobile broadband satellite link that improves the usage of current medical systems offering higher speed, better coverage, and a continuous communication link. This satellite broadband link enables diagnostic tools that require the transfer of heavy data like ultrasound scans or video-conferencing between hospital and emergency response vehicle. Satellite operators also enhance the capabilities of medevac and air ambulance missions by connecting onboard wired and medical devices to hospitals and diagnosing . By doing this, the injured can receive the most effective urgent treatment while on their way to hospital from off-site doctors who use onboard cameras to zoom in on injuries for close analysis. These systems allow rural communities to benefit from mobile clinics or vehicles equipped with mobile satellite antennas and medical equipment. Such clinics-on-wheels are time-efficient, cost-efficient and save lives.

Conclusion

Human beings can require healthcare, often urgent or specialized, no matter where they are: at home or on the move, in remote or isolated locations, on ships or on remote industrial sites. Satellite operators provide health services for all these situations, allowing for regular check-ups with specialists and compensating for direct, in- person treatment. For specialized care, they support e-devices like ECGs and and also enable the streaming of real-time from wearables for the adventurer on-the-go! Many beneficiaries of telemedicine via satellite receive treatment for serious conditions that may otherwise never have been diagnosed, let alone treated, at all. By allowing secure patient data capture, vital signs monitoring, consultation and treatment under the direct virtual guidance of medical professionals in clinics or hospitals, telemedicine via satellite saves lives.

3 https://www.hughes.com/sites/hughes.com/files/2017-03/Healthcare-Digital-Messaging_H46117_HR.pdf 4 https://business.esa.int/projects/satcare www.esoa.net