Essay on Access, Quality, and Cost Containment

In the United States, a renewed interest occurred in telehealth in the 1990s according to McGonigle and Mastrian because of escalating costs, the need for greater access for all

It excludes the option of face-to-face communication during examinations. Finally, telehealth focuses on educational and research purposes involving all types of caregivers with telecommunication between patient and health professionals. Health care delivery in its use of information, records, communication, and will continue to grow with the Internet. The rapid expansion of information technology into daily life and business has healthcare delivery begin to adopt and optimize the use of technology.

Telehealth has become a preferred method of healthcare delivery for many patients and healthcare professionals alike. Some key benefits include its convenience and cost effectiveness. It also allows patients to play a more active role in their own healthcare, which has been found to dramatically increase patient outcomes. While research suggests that the advantages of telehealth outweigh the disadvantages, it is important to note that not everyone would benefit from this form of technology. It is crucial for the patient’s healthcare team to assess if this method of healthcare delivery is appropriate for that individual patient. In today’s society, staying current on the latest technologies is extremely important. Although telehealth

The purpose of this paper is to discuss how technology has impacted the health care delivery system. Health care technology is advancing at an increasingly rapid rate in the United States, and globally. Patients and providers are witnessing these changes through the use of telehealth, and telemedicine applications. Telehealth, and telemedicine are often used interchangeably, however there is a difference between the two applications. Telehealth is the use of technology to deliver health care, health information, or health education at a distance (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.).

Having increased access to care is going to help improve healthcare because continuity of care is going to increase (Hamlin, 2015). Patients are more compliant with increase continuity of care because of a trust relationship being developed.

The benefits of telehealth consultations are immeasurable; clients are able to access a knowledgeable health care professional and receive a telephone triage/assessment and recommendations. This allows the patient to have immediate access to good health advice and quicker solutions. Telemedicine is one of the many vehicles of telehealth; for example, the cardiologist orders an outpatient Holter Monitor trial to evaluate arrhythmias. The technician calls the patient at the sign of any abnormal rhythm and investigate the activity performed when the reading fluctuation then the reported is communicated to the cardiologist. If warranted, the cardiology staff will contact the patient with instructions schedule an immediate appointment. Telehealth services resources would benefit the client in this next example, an individual’s come in for a sick visit expecting a prescription to be written for their illness; they receive informative instructions because of the nature of the

Many of these barriers exist from lack of essentially knowing the benefits of what the incorporation of telehealth can offer within the aspect of this type of community. At times, there has been a great interest in telehealth surrounding its potential to reduce health care costs along with the improvement of patient outcomes, but at times there has been no known scientific evidence base underpinning it (McLean, Sheikh, Cresswell, Nurmmatov, Mukherjee, Hemmi & Pagilari, 2013).

Telehealth has been a large topic of debate in recent years because of the economic, political, and regulatory points of view. In deciding outcomes in these areas, it is the responsibility of all healthcare professions to identify information gaps in order to come to the more rational and beneficial conclusion about telehealth (Grace, 2014). Economically, there are concerns regarding the access and affordability of telehealth equipment. At the same time, telehealth is being adapted in ways to be utilized with technological devices that many individuals already have access to like telephones, cellular phones, and personal computers/laptops. Telehealth can positively impact both clients and providers by increasing access to care and reducing the time and costs associated with traveling for health care (Allen, Aylott, Loyola, Moric, & Saffarek, 2015). As telehealth develops technological devices can be made more affordable and can be covered by insurance policies (Thomas et al., 2014). Many nurses functioning as case managers can help provide the tools and resources individuals require to manage their health.

I also was quite startled by the health disparities rural populations face in regard to access to care issues and recruiting health care providers. I am originally from the state of Iowa -- I saw many parallels between rural health care in West Virginia and Iowa. In college I did my nursing clinical rotation in a rural area in Iowa and I remember how hard it was for patients to find transportation to a health care facility. It was especially difficult for patients who needed specialty health care services like oncology. This is where I really think innovative information technologies like Telehealth can make a difference in rural populations’ health outcomes. Hopefully, more rural health care centers will make the commitment to adopting

By improving healthcare services we can ensure that individuals have a source of care which will have a better outcome.

The delivery of health care has always been influenced by technological developments and innovations. This is particularly true in modern health care professionals where they are obsessed with technology and rush to apply them. One of the most recent applications of ICT – Information and computer technology- is telehealth. Telehealth is the use of communication, diagnostic and information technology to provide health care when patients and providers are geographically separated [2], Technologies include videoconferencing, the internet, store -and-forward imaging, streaming media, terrestrial and wireless communications. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as

Advantages: With Telehealth, people are able to have consultation with their health care provider at home/office. This is convenience for those patients with physical disability or elderlies. This also makes their family member’s life easier as they do not need to take an off in order to bring the patient to hospital. It is cheaper to have consultation with doctors through Telehealth compare to visit the doctor personally. This would also reduce travel expenses. Telehealth helps to save time as patients do not need to spent time on traveling and waiting for their turn to have consultation.

Healthcare adoption is taking more time than anticipated. Barriers have proposed a problem, which simply are becoming the source of implementing this application. Bandwidth, education, leadership and technology, (B.E.L.T.) are the four major components being used when implementing. In the rural, isolated and under served regions, bandwidth becomes a barrier. Changes in the patient, provider approach seems to hinder this implementation as well. Using telehealth seems to to have limited capacity to to address health problems and

• Foster innovative and sustainable activities and interventions that improve the quality and value of health care.

There is an increasing need within the U.S. for quality health care to be provided to individuals who have limited access whether it is due to a rural environment, disabilities, or in the field of battle. Telemedicine is literally medicine provided at a distance. Telehealth is able to alleviate some of the effects of a growing shortage of professionals such as primary care physicians. In this type of health care delivery, the dynamics between the patient and the entire health care system changes. Telemedicine meets the increasing demands of patients to have greater access, or responsiveness, from a health care provider. It also meets the needs of the provider who is very interested in time-saving, safety-enhancing assistance in their daily practice. Employers and health plans are also very interested in telemedicine as a means of improving compliance with treatment plans and care management initiatives (Hodgkins, 2008). The use of email also allows the patient to have increased access to their health care providers. Instead of calling their health care provider’s office, patients are now able to email their non-emergent health care questions to their provider. Conversely, health care providers are able to email patients reminders for appointments or wellness tips.