Benefits Of Tele Psychiatry.

“Telehealth changes the location of care by connecting patients and clinicians virtually, in place of the usual face-to-face contact.” (Darkins 2012).

Telehealth services refers to the exchange of health information and services through telecommunication services in order to support anyone, at any time, in any location. Telehealth systems allows doctors to be in one place and treat patients in rural or urban areas – such as their homes or any another providers premises. The technology behind such concept is particularly helpful for patients with trouble leaving the house, or that live in remote areas from specialists (Narisi, 2013)

What is telehealth and how is it useful to care for clients? Include a description of what type of clients can benefit from being enrolled in a telehealth program?

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

Goss S., & Anthony, K. (2009). Developments in the use of technology in counselling and psychother

Telemedicine is a vast subject, but as yet there are limited data on the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of most telemedicine applications. As a result, objective information about the benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine is limited. This write up is therefore based mainly on my review opinion referencing the case: “a Telemedicine opportunity of distraction? “of Harvard business. Many potential opportunities of telemedicine including, but not limited to: improved access to information; provision of care not previously deliverable; improved access to services and increasing care delivery; improved professional education; quality control of screening programs; and reduced health-care costs. Although telemedicine clearly has a wide range of potential benefits, it also has some disadvantages. The main ones that can be envisaged are: a breakdown in the relationship between health professional and patient; a breakdown in the relationship between health professionals; issues concerning the quality of health information; and organizational and bureaucratic difficulties. On balance, the benefits of telemedicine are substantial, assuming that more research will reduce or

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.

Nurses may use different tools, such as computers, and teleconferences by telephone or video to deliver services to their patients. Healthcare reform’s primary goal is to expand health care access to the different populations that have been underserved. These populations include the poor, minorities, and rural communities. With so many challenges that lie ahead as more people seek to access primary care clinicians, telenursing presents itself as an important tool in meeting these needs. Therefore, it is important to know one’s role as a

Increasing access to quality health care services is a problem that can be tackled with emerging technology, such as Telehealth. Telehealth is becoming universally essential for efficient, cost-effective delivery of health care across a variety of settings (Bashshur & Shannon, 2010). Telehealth is proving to be an effective tool in combatting the problem of provider shortages as evidenced by rural hospitals starting to provide electronic consultations with specialists all over the country (Betbeze, 2017). Although telehealth technologies were originally aimed at improving access to health care for geographically remote patients, the areas of care being used by telehealth has extended its use well beyond those who are geographically isolated

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

Telepsychology is a relatively new development within the field of mental health service. The American Psychological Association defines it as the “provision of psychological services using telecommunication technologies. . . Telecommunication technologies include but are not limited to telephone, mobile devices, interactive videoconferencing, email, chat, text, and Internet (e.g., self-help websites, blogs, and social media).”(2016). Within the general category of telepsychology, psychological services that are delivered via the internet are referred to as “e-therapy”, “itherapy”, “cybertherapy”, and other similar names. E-therapy is a natural extension of our technological advancement, the growth of psychology as a field, and our ever increasing

Individual therapy carried out over the Internet can include asynchronous methods, such as e-mail, synchronous methods, such as web-based messaging (instant messaging), chat, videoconferencing or voice-over IP (Internet phone). Virtual reality therapy and online video game therapy are two additional emerging online modalities. Online counseling may be provided as the primary treatment modality or as an adjunct to more traditional forms of mental health treatment. There are many advantages of online counseling. First of all, it provides accessibility to individuals who are disabled or housebound. Then, it is also always affordable and convenient. Internet makes mental health information more accessible. Later, people also feel comfortable while talking to friends and family about their health care issues, but may not feel the same discussing mental health

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 uses technology to provide services that assist in the management of long term health conditions. For patients, telehealth can be a blessing that allows them to remain in their homes rather than moving to rehabilitation facilities. By taking an active role in their own care, some patients are reducing the number of medications they take, visiting emergency rooms less frequently and even lessening depressive symptoms.

The digital age has brought about many changes in the way we conduct business, education, entertainment and mental health. The trend to incorporate technology into our mental health programs, while in its infancy, continues to grow in popularity and use by both educational and private mental health providers. There has been a great deal of discussion on the methods, ethics, problems and benefits of this new technology, however little research has been done on the effectiveness of this method of counseling on clients.