Telemedicine Is Not A New Concept

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

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.).

was the use of telemedicine in order to reach patients who do not have access to

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

In some specialties, particularly in mental health and ICU care, telemedicine delivers a superior product, with greater outcomes and patient satisfaction. Consumers want telemedicine. The greatest impact of telemedicine is on the patient, their family and their community. Using telemedicine technologies reduces travel time and related stresses for the patient.

In this context telemedicine and technological capability can respond to two major strands: the first is a simplification to ensure that with available technologies, all actors of a clinical path from taking care to resign, share real-time Useful information for themselves and for other professionals in order to identify and follow the best path. The second strand is the provision on the territory of technological capacities that are very developed in a hospital environment but whose deployment is quite circumscribed.

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)

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

Telehealth is the use of electronic information to support long distance clinical health care, patient education, and public health administration. Telehealth involves video conferences, internet, streaming media, and wireless communication to deliver health related services. It encompasses the preventative, promotive, and curative aspects of health care. This system exchanges health related data and other information between the patient and the health care professional to help with the diagnosis and management of conditions. It allows for conferencing between health care professionals and patients in “real time”, remote patient monitoring (such as the blood pressure monitor feeding results through the system), electronic consultation, transmission of medical data, health advice in emergency cases, and long distance patient education. Telehealth is great for monitoring a client in between doctor appointments in order to assess their progression. This benefits the clients because it reduces the need for hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room, while improving their quality of life.

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

Improved quality is another benefit of telemedicine. The actual quality of healthcare services being delivered by via telemedicine, are just as good as the quality of care being rendered in traditional in-person consultations, shown in recent studies. Special facilities like mental health and ICU care; telemedicine is known to deliver an excellent product. With telemedicine aiding these special facilities, it creates even greater outcomes, and substantial satisfaction from the patients (americantelemed, 2012). Out of all the benefits that have been listed, the patient’s demand for telemedicine can be one of the biggest benefits of telemedicine. Consumers are really just enjoying telemedicine. Telemedicine greatest impacts are on the patient, their families, and their community. As mentioned earlier, telemedicine patient demand mainly derived from the reduced travel time for a patient. The reduction of travel time and traveling long distances can reduce the overall stress for a patient by

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.

There are several forms of technology that is used to monitor, assist patients with self-care management, assist physicians with delivering care to their patients, including consultation with specialist, and overcoming barriers with transportation. “60% of the healthcare executives, physicians, and nurses in this inaugural survey said that telemedicine was a high priority for 2015“ (Vockley, 2015, para. 7) Telemedicine

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.