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Telehealth Use in Rural Healthcare essay
Disadvantages of telemedicine essay
Disadvantages of telemedicine essay
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Appendix H: Telemedicine and Telehealth Telemedicine is the remote delivery of healthcare and information using telecommunications technology. The clinical applications for telemedicine are enormous in that they can involve initial urgent evaluation of patients for triage, stabilization, and transfer decisions, helps with supervision of primary care by non-physician providers when a physician is not available locally or provisions specialty care when a specialist is not available locally. Telemedicine can also help with consultations when a second opinion is needed or monitor and track a patient’s status as part of follow-up care or management of chronic problems and helps in the use of remote information and decision analysis to support or guide care for specific patients (Field, 1996). Telehealth is a broader scope of remote healthcare services than telemedicine. Telehealth includes remote non-clinical services such as provider training, administrative meetings, and continuing medical …show more content…
Telehealth allows small rural hospitals to continue providing quality care at low costs. Also, rural patients receiving care via telehealth can avoid driving long distances to access specialty care. Using telehealth services is more feasible for rural healthcare facilities than staffing the facilities with specialist providers. Telehealth allows specialists to visit rural patients virtually. Specialties provided to rural communities via telemedicine include audiology, cardiology, dermatology, emergency care, gastroenterology, hepatology, intensive care units, obstetrics, ophthalmology, pharmacy, radiology, and stroke interventions Ways that telehealth can be used to improve healthcare are through such things
The economic impact of telehealth is a critical factor to examine when looking at the feasibility of incorporating such technologies into practice. Exploration of economics is also essential as it has been posited that telehealth has the potential to deliver care to individuals that is cost saving in nature (Wade, Karnon, Elshaug, & Hiller, 2010). Furthermore, the estimated expenditure on telehealth services and technology is expected to reach into the billions of dollars (Berger, 2010). However, there are myriad individual elements that may be considered in the broad subject of economics, which complicates determining the economic impact in a parsimonious way (Bergmo, 2009; Wade, et al., 2010).
Telemedicine can make specialty care more accessible to rural and medically underserved communities and can easily connect providers a...
Moffatt, J. and Eley, D. (2010). The reported benefits of telehealth for rural Australians. Australian Health Review. 34. 276-281.
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 benefits conclusively. This change in health care delivery presents new ethical concerns, and new relationship boundaries between health care professionals, patients, and family members. This paper will discuss telehealth benefits in specific patient populations, costs benefits of using telehealth, and concerns of using telehealth.
The purpose of telemedicine is to remove distance as a barrier to health care. While telehealth is an accepted resource to bridge the gap between local and global health care, integrating telehealth into existing health infrastructures presents a challenge for both governments and policy makers (HRSA, 2011). Today there are policy barriers that prevent the expansion of telehealth, including reimbursement issues raised by Medicare and private payers, state licensure, and liability and privacy concerns.
Among the main aims of health care reform and improvement is expanding healthcare access to different populations, which have been subjects to underserving for a long period. These include the poor, the previously uncovered, rural societies, and the minorities, to mention just a few. Great challenges definitely lie ahead, since several individuals start seeking access to the primary healthcare clinicians (Arnaert & Delesie, 2001). Telenursing assures to be a crucial tool to meet such needs. It refers to making use of the telehealth technology in conducting nursing practice and delivering nursing care. Because of the quick telemedicine technology adoption within the healthcare institutions, telenursing emerges as a fresh tool that provokes discussions
The goal of Rural Telemental Health (RTH) is to increase the access to those in the rural regions of states by using teleconferencing, video-conferencing, emails, group video-conferencing and the telephone to help the geriatric patient improve depression. Telemental Health and/or Telemedicine will also improve communication and collaboration with a team of healthcare providers such as rural clinic nurses and primary care physicians while giving the rural geriatric population access to a much needed health service.
Telehealth definition according to our textbook by Hebda, T., & Czar, P., 2013 is the use of telecommunications technologies and electronic information to exchange healthcare information and to provide and support services such as long-distance clinical healthcare to clients. It provides health care to patients that may not be able to have access to care. Telehealth requires a patient to have electronic tools to facilitate this type of service. Electronic tools can be a telephone, computer, or a video camera. The patient is able to call or enable video conferencing to have access to their health care provider. Telehealth allows the patient to have access to preventative care and education on their disease process and how to manage it at home.
Telemedicine is a new comer to the field of medicine and it is the treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology. Telemedicine is carried out in a variety of ways whether it is by smart phone, wireless tools or other forms of telecommunications. Examples of telemedicine include: 1) transmission of medical images 2) care services at the home of the patient 3) Diagnosis at distance 4) education and training of patients. The diversity of practices in what is known as telemedicine raises many questions and one of those questions, which is extremely important, relate to the safety of the practice and the risks involved.
Telehealth allows a lower-level healthcare practitioner to communicate with a physician or specialist when necessary. Remote rural areas use a Physician Assistant or a Nurse Practitioner on location in remote areas. When procedures call for a physician, an internet or satellite link provides a teleconference with a physician who can prescribe appropriate treatment (Gangon, Duplantie, Fortin & Landry 2006). This could be implemented in lower income urban areas, allowing free clinics to lower costs, and require fewer physicians. Programs that increase the level of healthcare available to school children could be increased.
We live in the era of technology and telehealth is becoming a part of our lives. According to Guido (2014), telehealth Is a removal of time and distance barriers for the delivery of health care services and related health care activities. Internet and other communication technologies are the means for health care professionals to practice across state lines.
I agree there is a great need to provide healthcare services in rural areas, and telehealth is a logical solution. As you mention, there are many barriers to implementing a successful telehealth program. Lack of connection to the internet, lack of cellular phone service, and lack of equipment, may be the biggest barriers. Foster and Sethares (2014), found in their integrative review of literature regarding telehealth acceptance and barriers in older adults that once a stable connection is established there are additional difficulties the elderly has with equipment. Older adult with chronic illness, have vision problems and dexterity issues that prevent use of computer technology.
A new role, filled primarily by independent nurse practitioners, is that of “telemedicine presenter.” This is an adaptation of primary care skills where the focus of the activity is to acquire the necessary elements of the medical history and clinical findings so that they can be presented in a telemedicine consultation session with a consultant specialist. The telemedicine presenter is both the patient advocate in the consultation session and the hands of the distant consultant for doing procedures such as placing a stethoscope on the chest or positioning a video camera for a close-up view of a rash. In support of all of these telemedicine activities, there will be business opportunities for telemedicine process consultants, who advise health professionals on the technologies, methods, and personal communication skills necessary to transform a local practice into a telemedicine-enabled practice.
The unit I worked at, we are very familiar with telemedicine (telehealth) especially in the weekends/holidays when we don’t have providers on site available to assess and evaluate patients who need their expertise. After patients are evaluated and admitted to our floor, they describe their experience about telemedicine as convenient, minimal waiting time, and getting an instant medical answer. Whereas the disadvantages of using telemedicine are a power outage, slow internet connection, loss of privacy and confidentiality, no consultation, and even no stable patient-nurse relationship. According to WHO, despite those barriers, telemedicine has the potential to decrease emergency room visits and hospitalizations, promote quality care for patients
Imagine the ability to obtain healthcare services from almost anywhere in the world where you have access to a phone or computer. Now, imagine being able to provide nursing assessments, diagnosis, treatments, and recommendations to your patients from your home to almost anywhere in the world. Lauren Stokowski (2008) noted in her article that one fourth of the United States has rural residents. That number may appear small in comparison to the urban residences; however, rural residents have a tendency to to have “higher poverty rates, larger percentage of elderly, and tend to be in poorer health”. Could telenursing be a solution?