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The Ibero-American Network for Digital Health (RISAD) organized the V Ibero-American Digital Health Congress, bringing together experts and key leaders from the health sector to discuss innovative topics such as telemonitoring in pregnant women, the role of human capital in telehealth, and the integration of artificial intelligence in telemedicine for self-sustaining projects.

During the event, RedCLARA and the National University Network of Chile (REUNA) presented the paper "Strengthening Regional Telemedicine: The Experience of RedCLARA and REUNA in Chile," highlighting their commitment to advancing telemedicine in Latin America through the Latin American University Network for Telemedicine (RUTE-AL).

RedCLARA's Manager of Academic Relations, Tania Altamirano, explained RedCLARA's role in RUTE-AL, an initiative that draws inspiration from Brazil's University Telemedicine Network (RUTE) and receives support from the National Education and Research Network (RNP). Since its creation in 2020, RUTE-AL has strengthened its governance with the participation of National Research and Education Networks (RNIE) from five Latin American countries and the establishment of national chapters in each country.

RUTE-AL's mission is to establish a collaborative network between academic and healthcare institutions in Latin America, promoting the use of telemedicine and ICT in the healthcare and medical education sectors. The RNIEs that have signed agreements of support for this initiative with RedCLARA include CUDI (Mexico), RENATA (Colombia), CEDIA (Ecuador), RNP (Brazil), and REUNA (Chile).

“At RedCLARA, our commitment is to create and strengthen collaborative networks that drive digital transformation in Latin America, especially in key areas such as telemedicine. Through RUTE-AL, we bring together experts and promote knowledge exchange to benefit academic and healthcare communities in the region,” said Altamirano.

Paola Arellano, Executive director of REUNA, highlighted her organization’s role in fostering innovation in the telehealth ecosystem and acting as a link between RUTE Chile and RUTE Latin America. During her presentation, she observed that despite universities' keen interest in addressing telehealth issues, numerous initiatives were disjointed, leaving several behind. Within each university, these efforts remained in small groups, with little connection between peers from other institutions, which revealed the need to consolidate collaborative networks that would allow universities to exchange knowledge and strengthen telemedicine development in the region.

As part of its 2024 webinar series, RUTE-AL has organized 13 out of 14 scheduled sessions so far, with a total accumulated audience of 1,108 participants. This series, which takes place twice a month, aims to foster a constant collaboration network on health and telemedicine topics. With the support of RedCLARA and the RNIEs, this year's sessions began in April and will run until November 2024, featuring multidisciplinary panelists from the member institutions of RUTE-AL.