I-DTI: a second opinion platform between healthcare professionals related to organ donation and transplantation

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, 10% of the transplant needs are performed and only 0.05% of worldwide dead population becomes organ donor. Due to COVID pandemic, donation and transplantation rates have significantly decreased worldwide. Social distancing, displacement restriction and safety measures make even more necessary telematic communication tools to face the current crisis. I-DTI is designed as a second opinion platform allowing to share knowledge between healthcare professionals and internationally distinguished experts related to donation and transplantation. Objectives: To develop and assess I-DTI second opinion platform, targeting to developing countries during current COVID-19 context. Methods: I-DTI has been developed based on Medxat app, accessible via www.i-dti.com and downloadable from digital stores for mobile devices. Database server is encrypted with RAS using cloud technologies. Information is sent through HTTPS (SSL/TLS) codified channels following international data protection laws. I-DTI main function is 24/7 consultancy area. I-DTI covers the following topics: organ donation, transplantation and follow-up, tissue donation and COVID-19. I-DTI incorporates social network features like profile customisation, finder, and instant messaging service. The accessibility, contents and service of the tool was evaluated in three geographic areas: Kerala (India), Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago. Results: From April to December 2020, 60 healthcare professionals from the target areas were invited to join I-DTI pilot program. An average of 5 consultancies/week were received and answered in less than 24 h considering urgency. More than 50% of total consultancies were COVID-19 related and were stored in library cases for academic purposes. Satisfaction surveys were delivered to study quality indexes, receiving a total score of 9.3/10. (Accessibility 9.3 / Contents: 8.9 / Networking: 9.2 / Applicability: 9.5) Conclusions: I-DTI proved great value for knowledge sharing, international cooperation and data compilation especially in developing countries. The specialization of I-DTI topics opens a way to develop new contents and introduce artificial intelligence technologies. So far, more than 600 users from more than 20 countries (65% in developing) joined I-DTI.