Primary Health Care Challenges in Rural/Remote Areas of Yakutia and Use of Automated Systems for the Medical Screening Examination of the Pediatric Population

Abstract

The negative consequences of social and economic changes in recent decades have primarily affected the rural population and violated the main principles of medical care organization for this group. The reduction by one third in the number of district hospitals, uncompensated by adequate development of outpatient care, and a shortage of doctors in rural clinics led to reduced availability of primary care. Specialized medical assistance in regional and national hospitals has also become less accessible to the rural population due to the high cost of travel. The number of doctors and nurses in rural areas is lower by 3.4 and 1.6 times, respectively, than in cities. In this regard, the burden and responsibility for rural health workers is much higher. Study of the opinions of the medical staff of the Northern and Arctic regions is an important part of the decision-making system in health care, allowing us to carry out modernization programs in the industry and increase their efficiency through feedback mechanisms. This article presents the available data on the problems of organizing medical assistance for residents of the Northern and Arctic regions of Yakutia, because dealing with these problems is still the most socially significant task for the authorities and carries a great load of negative experience, stereotypes, and scientific-methodological errors. To assess the quality of medical care, we conducted an anonymous survey of parents and medical staff of the Northern and Arctic regions of Yakutia. A total of 1,415 parents and 322 health specialists were interviewed between 2011 and 2012. The results of the anonymous survey revealed that in the Northern and Arctic regions of Yakutia there is a deficit of qualified specialists of different profiles, an unsatisfactory infrastructure of medical offices and hospitals, and a low level of income for medical personnel and the whole population. All above listed are some of the reasons for developing and implementing health care information technologies to improve the quality of medical services in remote settlements of Yakutia.

Keywords

• healthcare;
• Yakutia;
• automated medical examinations;
• children's health;
• quality of diagnosis;