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
daunting task of caring for a rapidly aging and ever expanding population1—the corollary of which is increased need for
monitored by medical professionals. According to McKnight (2012), “Studies indicate patients with telehealth care are noted to have a 25% reduction in the number of inpatient hospital days and a 19% reduction in the rate of hospitalizations” (p. 4).
In the face of the limits of traditional support, it is necessary not only to redesign an organization, but to a paradigm shift that allows the socio-health performance to be efficiently and sustainably distributed to the widest possible audience. Digital technologies applied to healthcare and healthcare systems can increase their efficiency, improve their quality of life and give innovative impetus to healthcare markets. Telemedicine services can therefore be assimilated to any diagnostic / therapeutic health service. However, telemedicine performance does not replace traditional healthcare performance in the personal-patient relationship, but integrates it to improve its effectiveness, efficiency and appropriateness.
UNDERSTANDING TELEHEALTH SECTION 1: Modalities/Models High-risk obstetrical telehealth has been used to provide any number of support diagnostic and ancillary services, including nonstress testing, fetal echocardiograms, hypertension and diabetes counseling and monitoring, and a number of others. Nonstress testing, meaning no stress placed on the fetus, is done by placing a belt with a sensor on the abdomen of the mother to monitor fetal heart rate in response to fetal movement (1). Fetal echocardiograms use ultrasound equipment to evaluate the heart of the fetus and assess for cardiac abnormalities prior to birth. These tests are performed most often in the second trimester and provide a more detailed image than a regular ultrasound and show blood flow, structure, and heart rhythm (2). Each of these test results can then be read in the office or remotely via real time teleultrasounds and video technology. Additionally, common medical complications in high-risk pregnancies, such as hypertension and diabetes, can be remotely monitored through the use of a handheld or wearable device and can also be used as an educational/counseling tool. Increasingly, high-risk obstetrical telehealth is making its way into the home, providing patients the opportunity to increase time in between required clinic visits, replace visits, or offer providers rich data on patients in between appointments. This amazing evolution of high-risk obstetrical care is currently underway and is expected to
Thank you for your post on telehealth. The use of telehealth I agree has the potential to change health care. We are utilizing telehealth at our facility which has record numbers of visit each year with associated parking difficulties that our facilities have been known for. The bulk of the patients that receive services through telehealth are very pleased and are happy because they do not have to deal with the inconveniences that are posed by and dealing with the traffic issues in Houston. Another area of telehealth that is yielding lots of benefits is the use of Telemental health in patients that are dealing with mental health issues. This is an area that has a lot of value and has cut down clinic utilization. Our facility has several clinicians
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
Physician engagement was identified by surveyed participants as both the most significant enabler to increase telehealth adoption and as greatest potential barrier to be overcome to expand telehealth services. A health care providers’ decision making process to acceptance and embrace new telehealth services is critical to improve physician engagement. Technology acceptance describes a person’s intention or voluntary adoption of a technology and user acceptance is an important factor for successful adoption and utilization of a technology. Whitten and Mackert have pointed out that the provider is the most important initial gatekeeper for the deployment of telemedicine so it is critical that program managers and telemedicine advocates develop effective engagement strategies to enable the success of a telemedicine initiative (Whitten & Mackert, 2005).
Substitutes: As the growth of this market develops, other firms will attempt to create more efficient and effective technologies for the consumers’ problems. With telemedicine becoming more and more popular other firms could develop new products at a cheaper price, thereby minimizing the inconvenience and cost of switching services.
I agree with you that technology such as Telehealth is an innovative method to increase health services to individuals—especially those living in rural areas that might find it difficult to access primary and specialty health care services. A market analysis for a rural health care centers’ consumers might real trends such as difficulty accessing health services due to significantly lower numbers of primary and specialty health care providers versus urban populations (NRHA, 2014). Therefore, marketing technologies like Telehealth or Telemedicine would be lucrative to rural consumers who find it challenging to access health care due to decreased number of providers or long travel times to see specialty providers in more urban areas. For
Great post and very informative. You did a great job and wrote a detailed problem statement regarding Telehealth. Telehealth has great potential in providing care to many patients. Great questions that you are asking regarding telehealth. The questions should help shed some light on the current problem relating to telehealth.
Our telemedicine company's PE ratio is high and may indicate investors' expectations about the company's earnings potential. With a higher PE, investors have high expectations for our telemedicine’s future growth. Our fast-growing company has a higher PE ratio than with a mature company so our company will need to increase its revenues in order to maximize its value. To do this they will need to increase the volume of patients and activities to maximize its profits in a firm equilibrium, where our average cost is at minimum and the marginal cost and marginal revenue are equal. To increase sales that will result in profits, there must be a market for increased telemedicine and the company must keep its overhead costs properly controlled
While advancements in technology have positively impacted the nursing field, it has also created huge concerns with patient privacy and sharing of protected health information leading to detrimental effects to patients and their families. Indeed, technology is changing the face of healthcare with positive innovations to reduce medication errors and documentation errors. However, technology at our fingertips has created immense concerns with sharing of protected health information of patients via social media, email and other means of communication via technology. This paper addresses why I feel the advancement of technology has numerous deficits that need more research and implementation of new laws and policies to safeguard the
When using Telemedicine humans can accomplish many great things and can benefit everyone. The potential this innovation has could be really great if they succeed on making it right. If this Innovation worked many lives will be saved across the world. As well as lives we might be able to learn new things from this and find more cures. According to professionals at the medical field telemedicine has been approving for the past couple years and as potential to keep going. Not only is this innovation good at saving lives it is also helping the economy by getting rid of competition. Even though some people see competition in the economy a good thing but it also has its downs that can really help some
Also, the suggestions provided to help with the research seems appropriate. One suggestion that can be added to the list is to include the pharmacies (private or government) in the telemedicine plan as there may be some times when a person is not able to go the pharmacy to pick up their medicine and the pharmacies can deliver the same to the address. This means that during the discussion, one more party have to be on-board for the development and implementation of telemedicine systems that is the pharmacies that are affiliated to the medical facilities.