TELEMEDICINE What exactly is telemedicine? According to the American Telemedicine Association, “Formally defined, telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status. When we think about telemedicine, we think about the growing number of applications and the services using cameras, two-way video chats, electronic mail, smart phones, use of wireless tools and many useful forms of technology with telecommunications. They continue, ” Starting out over 40 years ago with demonstrations of hospitals extending care to patients in remote areas, the use of telemedicine has spread rapidly and is now becoming integrated into the ongoing operations …show more content…
Looking into telemedicine further we find there are a lot of benefits. Some of those benefits include the much improved access of patient to provider relationship given the provider shortages throughout the world, in both rural and urban areas; telemedicine has the potential in it’s unique capacity to allow an increased service to millions of new patients. Telecommunication is also a great way to reduce or contain cost of healthcare as it is also one of the main reasons in funding and adopting tele-health technologies. Telemedicine has been proven reduce healthcare cost while also increasing the efficiency by offering better management of chronic diseases, shared health professional staffing, reduced travel times, and fewer or shorter hospital stays. The best benefit of telemedicine is the user friendly programs to the patient, their family and the community. Expenses associated with travel time, gas, stress and time are reduced with the use of …show more content…
Some of this is appropriately attributed to such external factors as payment reductions, regulation, and the business practices of insurers. Less well recognized is the contribution of factors internal to the organizations: styles of leadership and management, administrative policies and procedures, and organizational culture. As compared with external factors, these internal characteristics have more direct, immediate, and powerful effects and are far more amenable to change at a local level.” (Suchman, A. L. 2001). There are many external influences for health care research and this journal article hit the head on the nail. Money and regulation are the major external influences on research right now. If the government shuts down due to budget negotiations and there is a government research facility that shuts down, then the researcher’s work could be severely hurt or compromised. According to United for Medical Research’s website, “Sequester Profiles: How Vast Budget Cuts to NIH are Plaguing U.S. Research Labs shines a light on the irreparable damage NIH-funding cuts are having on research labs across the country, jeopardizing medical research and advancements in the fields of cancer research, Parkinson’s Disease, fertility, pediatric medicine and genetics. The series also explores the implications of sequestration’s
...ward understanding the cost benefit of telemedicine applications. Hospital Topics: Research and Perspectives on Healthcare
[20]Charles BL. (2000) Telemedicine can lower costs and improve access. Healthcare Financial Management. 54(4): 66.
“Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patients’ health status” (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2013, p. 156.)
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.
We at Capstone Health Consultants are pleased to provide the Board of Directors of Utopia University Medical Center our recommendations regarding design, development, and deployment of a multi-disciplinary Telemedicine program for outlying clinics.
“Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status” (American Telemedicine Association, 2013). Telemedicine is the use of technology such as email, mobile devices, and computers to communicate health information (Mayoclinic.com, 2014). Telemedicine has enabled the use of communication technologies by healthcare professionals for the evaluation, diagnose, and the treatment of patients in rural areas (GlobalMed.com, 2014). Telemedicine is used in a variety of health care services like primary care, patients monitoring, health information sharing, health education (America Telemedicine Association, 2013). These services are delivered using various mechanisms such as video conferencing, personal health apps, e-visits (Mayoclinic.com, 2014). These technologies have been proven to increase access, to be cost efficient, to improve quality, and intensify patients’ satisfaction according to the America Telemedicine Association.
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
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.
Often the biggest barriers to accessing healthcare are cost and location. Lower income individuals just do not have the resources to have optimal healthcare, or cannot take the time away from employment to deal with health issues. One potential solution to help with these problems could be “telehealth.” Telehealth allows a lower level healthcare practitioner to communicate with a physician or specialists 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.
Funding from the health sector that now goes to Obamacare cuts back America’s competitive edge on medical research due to the redistribution of funds.
Telehealth involves the distribution of health-related services and information. Distribution via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long distance patient/clinician contact and care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring and remote assistance. Telehealth could include two clinicians discussing a case over video conference, a robotic surgery occurring through remote access, physical therapy done via digital monitoring instruments, live feed and application combinations, and many more. As the population grows and ages, and medical advances are made with prolong life, demands increase on the healthcare system.
From state and federal levels, the healthcare industry has come a very long way, experiencing changes along the way. The development of advanced technology that has enhanced the quality of healthcare delivery systems will help all patients to be able to benefit. Doctors are able to access patient records at a faster rate and respond to their patients in a much more timely fashion. E-mail, electronic transfer of records and telemedicine will give all patients and physicians the tools needed to be more efficient, deliver quality care and deliver quality telecommunication at a faster pace than before.
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?