Feedback from the mayor of Pierrefitte Nestalas
Introduce yourself
I am Noël Pereira Lacuna, Mayor of Pierrefitte Nestalas which is a commune in the Hautes Pyrénées south of Lourdes.
Present the medical context of the town of Pierrefitte Nestalas
We are a commune of less than 1,200 inhabitants, which corresponds to a town center that can be described as secondary compared with neighboring communes that are sub-prefectures or former department heads. We have an almost complete medical and paramedical presence, except for the last 2 years, when we have had no general practitioners. We are facing a transfer of GPs, as we have known years when we had 3 to 4, and we now deplore their move to other communes.
Where and when was the teleconsultation booth installed?
To be precise, the teleconsultation terminal has been in place since March. We had, of course, the village pharmacy, which questioned the presence of GPs and prescriptions, and since we had joined forces with another commune, we tried to work together to launch a search for a GP. And that's when we got in touch with the company Tessan.
Why did you choose Tessan?
We're a village on a human scale: solidarity and the rest of the word, and as a result there was a human encounter with Tessan and the town council behind it got on well with the Tessan project.
What do players in the medical ecosystem think?
It was rather well received ! To begin with, we sent out information to all the commune's paramedics about the deployment of this teleconsultation service. We then organized an information meeting attended by doctors, nurses and physiotherapists, and we even contacted homecare associations to ensure that the entire healthcare chain was involved.
Do you have any feedback from patients using the Tessan service?
The village pharmacy was to be Tessan's future partner for the installation of the terminal, and it so happened that, thanks to the opportunity to set up the project and to public support (from the State and the region), it was the commune that took over. So we bought the terminal from Tessan and made it available to the public near the pharmacy. and the feedback we've had has been very positive..
Have you considered placing the cabin in a municipal department?
It was a deliberate choice to install it in a location isolated from the pharmacy, because initially it was the pharmacy that should have been involved in a leasing operation with Tessan for the terminal, but in the end it was the commune that took the lead, and we really wanted to place the teleconsultation terminal in a location close to the pharmacy, isolated from the dispensary but right next to it. We wanted to send a message of support to the pharmacy, demonstrating that we wanted to support its activity so that it could be in direct contact with patients, and therefore manage this tool.
How would you describe your experience at Tessan?
This is one of the projects that a municipality undertakes with a certain innovative approach, because at municipal council meetings, discussions were always calm, but we had to argue because it fell into a spectrum that was not common; and the question of confidentiality arose. But we guaranteed that the telemedicine terminal would be located in a room that was totally soundproofed and even thermally insulated! Then we talked about the cost of access: it's part of our role of solidarity to offer free access.
We worked in a spirit of trust, Tessan was very responsive, and I think we've even built up a relationship of trust that gives us a great deal of peace of mind when it comes to managing this type of project.
Is the service accessible to the entire population?
The feedback we're getting is that people can get to grips with this tool easily The use of connected medical devices is fairly straightforward, even if it can be a little off-putting, as seniors are not necessarily familiar with videoconferencing or webcams.
But the feedback has been very positive, especially concerning the waiting time for an appointment, the ease of use and, finally, the anxiety-inducing aspect of the fact that it's done by camera, that we don't know the doctor in front of us, but as everything is done in a very humanistic way, it's very calming. And above all, we have the advantage of leaving with a prescription and being 4.5 metres from the dispensary.
