title: Experience with telepathology at a tertiary cancer centre and a rural cancer hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Telepathology allows quick and timely access to an expert opinion, no matter where the patient is located. We analysed the experience with the use of telepathology between a tertiary cancer centre and a rural cancer hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-three cases were analysed in which static telepathology was used to obtain a consultation between Tata Memorial Centre and Nargis Dutt Memorial Cancer Hospital at Barshi, a rural area.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Successful teleconsultation was achieved in all cases. A diagnosis was offered in 92 cases (98.9%) and was deferred in 1 case (1.1%). Complete concordance, clinically unimportant minor discrepancy and hedged diagnosis were obtained in 83 cases (90.2%). Major discrepancies were encountered in 9 cases (9.7%). The number of images per case ranged from 3 to 27 (average: 7 images). Images were of diagnosable quality in 89.2% of cases. Most of the cases (77.4%) were reported within 3 days; 32.2% were reported within 8 hours (a single working day) and 45.1% within 1-3 days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Telemedicine can be effectively used to bridge the gap between medically underprivileged, geographically distant rural areas and advanced centres using the static store and forward methodology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Dr E. Borgess Road, Parel, Mumbai 400012, Maharashtra, India. sangeetabdesai@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Sangeeta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Rajasa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.forename: Roshni
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chinoy
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kothari
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: Manoj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chavan
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohan
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Nene
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dinshaw
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002648:Child; D006780:Hospitals, Rural / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D019114:Remote Consultation; D019113:Telepathology / Q000458:organization & administration*