June 2015: after taking up the post of Director of Foreign Travel at the Social Health Insurance Institute (Seguro Social de Salud – EsSalud), I had the following experience: a patient had come back from a foreign country after spending a month there and I decided to go with him to his first check-up in Peru. The attending doctor looked at me and asked “What do you want me to do with this patient? He has had a type of treatment that we don’t use in this country and I’m not familiar with it. He’s been operated on by a team of surgeons that I don’t know and they’ve prescribed a treatment that we don’t use here…” We had to look into this situation and take action to ensure that the investment of sending patients for costly treatment abroad was not made in vain.

Telemedicine has not only contributed to EsSalud’s financial sustainability by preventing wasted investment, but has also proven very useful before, during and after patients’ trips, as it means greater confidence and less worry and uncertainty for patients and relatives.