Building Ukraine's largest acute telehealth network: A conversation with Dr. Vadym Terentyuk
Dr. Vadym Terentyuk (right) and Sharon Allen (left) in Warsaw, Poland.
At the onset of the conflict, World Telehealth Initiative (WTI) quickly mobilized to provide medical expertise to 26 hospitals and health outposts in Ukraine in partnership with the Ministry of Health. Using telehealth, international medical experts support clinicians in Ukraine in vital specialties such as neurosurgery and oncology, while clinicians within Ukraine support each other.
Key to this effort is Dr. Vadym Terentyuk, who is Secretary of the Inter-department working group on Telemedicine Development at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Head of Telemedicine at the State Enterprise E-Health, and Associate Professor of the Department of Healthcare Management at the Bogomolets National Medical University. Together, we built the largest telehealth network in Ukraine, ensuring specialized care reaches those in need. WTI’s CEO, Sharon Allen, had the opportunity to sit down with Vadym and hear about his experience:
When the conflict began, suddenly Ukraine’s health system became overwhelmed with injured people and many hospitals were destroyed. How did you engage with World Telehealth Initiative to get Ukraine’s surgeons and physicians trained to address these challenges?
“It was a terrifying period for us. It all started very suddenly. Many of us were confused. Hospitals suddenly became overcrowded with wounded. The injuries were terrible and it was the first time our doctors had seen such injuries. Our doctors used phones to get advice from more experienced doctors. But it was not enough. At the time, there were many telemedicine offers, but we needed the experience and knowledge of our colleagues who already had experience to go with the equipment.
Our doctors need some expert support in different diseases that we hadn’t seen before. Even some of our doctors have been leaving our hospitals, its true, its why the telemedical equipment that was contributed by WTI is so needed for us. In addition, we can contact doctors in different parts of the United States, in different hospitals, who explain to us how to use telemedicine and treat some real diseases.”
How have the security challenges that come with war impacted your work with World Telehealth Initiative?
“Our partners at WTI were experienced and understood the kind of help we needed. That's because it was a combination of a high-tech solution with secure communication channels and access to consultations with doctors who already had experience. In my opinion, it worked because it was a quick and comprehensive solution. Robots connected doctors to the network. We reported this decision to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and received full support. The first consultations were from Lviv and then from Kyiv. Once again, it was important that we didn't need complicated training. We didn't have the time. We had to act and help the wounded.”
Can you tell me how World Telehealth Initiative has contributed to healthcare in Ukraine?
“World Telehealth Initiative was the first partner who contributed modern telemedicine technology and support, after the start of the war, 24 February. It’s not only the technical support, it was the experienced people who explained to us how we can use telemedicine in the situation with the lack of resources and how we contribute our medical services to people who need it. And World Telehealth Initiative, Sharon Allen and Dr. Yulun Wang, came to Ukraine one year after the start of the big war and they personally took part in the telemedicine conference.”
Has the war caused more challenges in your role at the Ministry of Health?
“Yes, surely, the war is a big tragedy for my country, for my people, it’s a big challenge for our healthcare sector and the electronic healthcare system... The part of our hospitals was under aggression, was destroyed totally, so we stopped the connection with the central database and in that moment, we understand it was the best solution.. So for us, it was a big challenge to these resources. A lot of our staff is moving, they left the country for some time, but now some of them return to Ukraine and some of them stay abroad. Resources, this is a big problem for our sector, to support and develop our system. So the war showed us how important it is to plan resources in a critical situation.”
What are your goals and hopes for telehealth as Ukraine moves forward?
“Our goal is to make the medical centers closer to our people, there are lots of benefits of telemedicine. It is cost effective, it is making medical centers closer to our people of course. Some of our facilities have a lack of medical staff, and it means we can use the telemedicine to support them and make our medical services closer and closer during this time of war.”
We are so grateful to Dr. Vadym Terentyuk for his partnership, hard work and commitment to quality healthcare access for the people of Ukraine.