Telehealth Case Study

Telehealth is an innovative approach to health care that is rapidly expanding in all areas of patient care. It has been shown to be cost effective and is rapidly being integrated into everyday practices from clinics, hospitals, court systems, school systems and even the local drug store.

Oral health has a direct impact on the general health, hence, it is important that all Canadians have adequate access to dental care services. Over the years successive Governments have reduced financial support to programs delivering dental care to most vulnerable populations. As a result, many low income families and other vulnerable groups have been unable to access dental care. There is further escalation in the disparities in oral health care among Canadians, as the number of Canadians losing dental care benefits continues to increase. Also, higher oral health care costs can be expected in the near future due to shortage of health care professionals.

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).

While most of the patients I interacted with were seeking non-dental care, I met patients who were seeking care to health conditions that stem from their oral health such as oral abscesses, which our team was unable to treat except for prescribing antibiotics or painkillers. I encountered similar situations when I shadowed physicians in the emergency room of hospitals, observing a variety of craniofacial disorders originating from a preventable tooth decay. From these observations, I learned that patients often did not receive treatment that addressed the root of their problems: their oral health. As the result, I learned that many physicians saw the same patient repeatedly for problems that would otherwise be easily prevented through proper preventive dental care. Determining to address the unmet needs for accessible preventive dental care, I decided to pursue a career in dentistry so that I can provide a positive and meaningful impact to the underserved community on their oral health and ultimately their overall

A health system defined as ‘all the activities whose primary purpose is to promote, restore and/or maintain health’ (WHO 2013). A good health system is indicated by its capability to delivers quality services, when and where the people need them (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2014). Australia’s health-care system is a combination of public welfare and private market provision (Willis, Reynolds & Keleher 2009). There are multiple layers of responsibility and funding provided by governments, individuals, health providers and private health insurers (Biggs 2013).

Telehealth is an all inclusive, systematic approach application of care and case management. The program personalizes the delivery of health care services using health informatics, disease management and health technologies. Telehealth facilitates access to care and improves the health of designated individuals and populations.

The socioeconomic background of people is a major factor that dictates whether or not they will receive dental care. According to the American Journal of Public Health, “Children from a low socioeconomic status have been shown to have a high risk of dental caries”(Simmer-Beck 1764). Many children today do not receive the dental care they need because of their parents’ income. Going to the dentist is expensive for people without dental insurance so many people tend to blow it off; but what they don’t realize is that the condition of their mouth often dictates the state of the rest of their health. An internet source in correspondence with the American Journal of Public Health stated that, “More than half of low income-children without

Health is a vital aspect of life, which is why it is important to have an access to different health care services. The world’s population is rising radically every year; thus, the demand for quality health care services also increases. With the application of modern technology the health system has been able to accommodate this demand in many countries through the implementation of Telehealth. In Canada, accessibility and distribution of health care services is influenced by aspects like large landmass, population concentration and economy and (Sevean, et. al., 2008). The feasibility of

Currently, our Kirkland based clinic works with 40 children on an average week. Our Bellingham location only sees 20 children. We have the ability to reach out to far more clients and provide them even more assistance then we ever thought were capable. Telehealth is an up and coming new wave of both technology and healthcare. The basic foundational idea of telehealth is that the therapist has the ability to treat the client via electronic means such as iPad, webcams and phones. It opens the door for patients to overcome barriers and receive the proper healthcare that they need and may have missed out on thus far. Washington is in the forefront of bringing this form of healthcare to the surface by passing bill #6519. I have included the link for this bill so that you may look into more information and history of the bill if you wish. As you can see, this bill showcases that we are legally able to provide this service as long as we are providing treatment to those that are in the state of which we are licensed.

Telehealth is the monitoring via remote exchange of physiological data between a patient at home and health care professionals at hospitals or clinics to assist with diagnosis and treatment. As our society ages and health care costs increase, government and private insurance payers are seeking technological interventions. Technological solutions may provide high quality healthcare services at a distance, utilize professional resources more effectively, and enable elderly and ill patients to remain in their own homes. Patients may experience decreased hospitalization and urgent care settings, and out of home care may not be required as the patient is monitored at home. However, no study has been able to prove telehealth

In this field trip, I am trying to find out the latest development of Information Technology and how these technologies affect our daily lives. Get to know about these technologies, how is it going to improve our lives in the further. This exhibition is about the next generation nationwide broadband network (Next Gen NBN). We get to learnt how Next Gen NBN improved Information Technology, as it offers broadband speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second. With such high speed, more informations can be transferred in one second. This exhibition tell us about how Next Gen NBN improve our lives, work, Interaction and learning. In this essay I am going to discuss three technologies which I think

Lastly, low income countries have 62% of the world population and there world health expenditure is 2%. By looking at this information “Evidence based intervention for all major oral diseases exist. But they are not available or implemented in majority of countries” (Beaglehole Pg 91). Please refer to appendix 5 and 6

Research conducted into telehealth demonstrates conflicting evidence of its viability as a form of practice. Dreyer N., Dreyer K., Shaw and Wittman (2001) suggest for telerehabilitation to be a viable alternate it needs to be executed with a high-bandwidth system producing adequate video quality for therapists viewing smaller motor movements. This recent study declared a lack of research into the equipment used in executing telerehabilitation for long-term use. Further research on specific evaluation tools, equipment and long-term system use needs to be conducted (Dreyer et al, 2001). The tele-practice roleplay highlighted, how a strong connection is vital to executing an alternate to face-to-face practice. Posing to be a limitation for rural areas where access to high-bandwidth isn’t accessible. Consideration of the equipment used to execute

One of the only two reasons that a person cannot receive said treatment is because there is no trained professional that is capable of giving the treatment. The geographic disparity exists most “The figures are stark: the average density of dentists to head of population in Africa is 1 to 150,000; in industrialized countries, the average is 1 to 5,000” (“High Risk” 1). There is no shortage of capable dentists in the world; there is only a shortage of capable dentists in the places that need them most. The problem continues to escalate as fewer dentists want to open general practices in the most desolate places in Africa. The problem escalates as the “…duties which traditionally have been performed by assisting personnel are now being carried out by the dentists themselves” (“WHO” 2). This fact only makes the problem of the lack of dentists worse. The few dentists there are in an area, some of them have to help the others because there are not any capable people of helping the dentists, thus slowing the process even further. The problems continue to snowball as “Health care in rural areas can suffer due to lack of expertise and trained professionals. Moreover, excessive workloads and long working hours for the remaining staff can lead to demoralization, burnout, and decline in the quality of care” (Parkash 3). Due to the shortage of capable dentists in rural areas and the massive

Telemedicine is the use telecommunications and information technology to provide healthcare to patients located in the remote or distant locations. For example: people staying in the mountainous areas or islands can get medical services right at their home with the help of smart devices or patients who cannot go to the hospital for some reason.