Health Case Study

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

Employers are beginning to incorporate telemedicine into the benefits package for their employees. Recognizing e-visits are beneficial to the employer, because the employee will not need as much time away from work to have non-emergent health conditions treated. In addition, the service is a cost savings to both the employer and employee. There are some employer groups covering these services at 100 percent for their employees’. E-visits are cheaper than clinic, and office visits.

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.

Despite the advantages of Telehealth, lack of reimbursement continues to be a serious concern towards widespread adoption. As new private companies are adopting telehealth facility, there is a great difficulty in reimbursement through Medicare (Winckler, 2016). The main challenge is developing a supportable model under Medicare that meets the need of government, service providers, doctors and

The home videoconference machine commonly used in the VA in 2007 was the American TeleCare LifeView machine (Eden Prairie, MN). Its cost of $11,325 came from a national contract with the VA and hence has no variation. We assumed that it lasts three years. Telephone calls and the LifeView station both use telephone land lines. Based on actual experience, we expected that 52% of individuals eligible for telehealth would have standard (land-line) telephones. No cost was assigned for them because this program does not purchase or repair telephones, and their use would not noticeably shorten their lifetimes. We assumed that the VA clinicians initiated all calls in order to eliminate any cost to the patient. Based on our assumption that transmission costs were part of the fixed overhead assigned to encounters in the SCI clinic, we did not account for their costs separately.

Telemedicine has provided better access to health care to many individuals that would otherwise not be able to get required health care services. Telehealth is a means to improve access to care, while reducing costs of transportation and increasing accessibility to patients in obtaining care. Telemedicine allows for healthcare information to be shared with treatment team members that are separated miles from each other with the ability to communicate in a timely manner. For information technology to impact care, one has to be knowledgeable about the use of technology

The future faces a number of related goal-driven challenges. The CCHT has cited reduced health care resource use among the targeted high-utilization patients. This impact provides strong economic justification for home telehealth to be an integral component of regular care services for chronically ill veterans at risk for long-term care. Because of the lower marginal cost of adding services to the existing infra¬structure, the VHA is intent on expanding its CCHT program to provide chronic care management, acute care management, and health promotion and disease management for other patients in areas such as weight management, dementia care, and palliative care. They were awarded six national contracts for home telehealth devices and services worth $1.38 bil¬lion over five years. This is particularly challenging as the VHA uses a primary care model that adheres to clinical guide¬lines and sharing of information among

The Telehealth services will include the use of technology to deliver telemedicine. The budget will fund the hospital with videoconferencing software, computers, webcams, and trained employees to set up and document the process. The equipment will allow physicians or patients to consult virtually with other physicians and specialists. Instead of missing a day of work or school and commuting hours for an appointment with a specialist, patients will be able to visit their local hospital and consult with the specialist via technology. Consultations, examinations, and monitoring are services that can easily be provided through

The framework for telehealth builds on the successful outcomes including patient satisfaction and reductions in hospital readmissions. Veterans Health Administration’s telehealth services reported patient satisfaction levels greater than 85%, and reductions in bed days of care exceeded 40% among patients receiving the care technology. The Framework provides a vision, direction, and systematic approach for utilizing telehealth both statewide and locally. The framework will also be a tool to educate decision-makers on the impact of chronic disease, the importance of prevention, and the potential economic return of investment in a proven, community-based

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that utility of telehealth technology (THT) has the ability to improve patients’ health and reduce costly hospital readmissions for those living with chronic diseases in the United States (US). Nationally, most of our healthcare expenditures are allocated to caring for patients with chronic conditions. Bunnell et al. (2012) suggested that it cost the US more than 2.5 trillion dollars to manage and treat chronic disorders. Because of less than optimal management of chronic diseases in the outpatient setting, these patients are frequently readmitted to the hospital.

Reps. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) and Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) introduced a bill, the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2013,

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

There are weaknesses in the proposed plans to improve access. In the case of telehealth nothing can replace the hands on analysis of a trained physician. Any type of trauma care will still require an airlift to a trauma center for care. Complications such as reactions to medications, or complications of child delivery, would leave the patient in the hands of under trained staff. Such a program would require an infrastructure of physicians willing to teleconference. Second it would require an internet or satellite link that could not be disrupted.

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.