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Benefits and challenges of patient portal
Essay review of telemedicine
Essay review of telemedicine
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Recommended: Benefits and challenges of patient portal
Telemedicine accounted for revenue of $17,878.7 million in 2015, the causes for this market growing at such a phenomenal rate is due to the number of homes using smart phones and the increasing geriatric population. With just a web camera and secure patient database to connect to a patient portal a doctor can view a patient’s records and send prescriptions and answer patient questions and concerns. The cost of Telemedicine is also less expensive than normal office visits and now insurance companies and Medicare cover the cost of this form of medicine. Telemedicine Limitations The transition to Telemedicine has a few downsides and may eventually include higher technology cost, not enough trained IT personnel, or the ability
...ward understanding the cost benefit of telemedicine applications. Hospital Topics: Research and Perspectives on Healthcare
Did you ever think about how much time is spent on computers and the internet? It is estimated that the average adult will spend over five hours per day online or with digital media according to Emarketer.com. This is a significant amount; taking into consideration the internet has not always been this easily accessible. The world that we live in is slowly or quickly however you look at it: becoming technology based and it is shifting the way we live. With each day more and more people use social media, shop online, run businesses, take online classes, play games, the list is endless. The internet serves billions of people daily and it doesn’t stop there. Without technology and the internet, there would be no electronic health record. Therefore, is it important for hospitals and other institutions to adopt the electronic health record (EHR) system? Whichever happens, there are many debates about EHR’s and their purpose, and this paper is going to explain both the benefits and disadvantages of the EHR. Global users of the internet can then decide whether the EHR is beneficial or detrimental to our ever changing healthcare system and technology based living.
[20]Charles BL. (2000) Telemedicine can lower costs and improve access. Healthcare Financial Management. 54(4): 66.
Telemedicine hold a great promise in health information technology, it not only promises to improve health care delivery but it also aids in serving the most vulnerable of patients.
Kansas is considered a rural state in the United States. Merriam-Webster (2012) defines rural theoretically as “open land” or “relating to the country, country people or life, or agriculture”. The U.S. Census Bureau considers rural to be “open country and settlements with fewer than 2,500 residents” (Cromartie, 2007). Nearly 17% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, which is about 80% of all U.S. territory (Cromartie, 2009). What this means that there is more land mass compared to the people inhabiting the land; rural communities have fewer people living in larger, more remote areas. Individuals living in rural communities have different cultures and experiences than those living in urban communities, which can become problematic in regards to healthcare.
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.
It is widely recognized that mental illness affects a significant proportion of the population; however, it is complicated to determine exact numbers. This problem can be attributed to such issues as the changing definitions of mental illness as well as difficulties in classifying, diagnosing, and reporting mental disorders. Limitations to adequate mental health services including social stigma, cultural incompatibility between patients and providers, language barriers, lack of insurance and logistical barriers. In addition, significant differences in socioeconomic status, lifestyle behaviors, and access to care have resulted in health disparities between rural and urban communities (Institute of Medicine, 2004). According to Sulzbacher et al., many families who live in rural areas do not have the financial, social or psychological resources, to travel to distant urban centers to obtain adequate care particularly for a chronic mental health problem. There is also evidence to suggest that mental illness in rural areas is as nearly as high as among people in metropolitan areas. However, the accessibility of mental health services and professionals in rural areas is extremely low compared to major cities and metropolitan areas. Such barriers can impede the diagnosing, treating and reporting of mental illnesses and have also been instrumental in developing and improving telepsychiatry and e-mental health models.
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.
Many providers now agree that the use of the Internet such as patient portals results in a more inquisitive and informed patient. (Gwen Van Servellen)One disadvantage as mentioned by Yonette Leacock, an employee of a local hospital, when patients received results prior to speaking to their physicians, patients would read the results and call the radiology department to ask for certain things meant. “One patient actually called and argued with the radiologist about why he describe her as obese in his report”. But as a patient, Yonette agrees that she receives her results in a timely manner and is able to conduct business in efficient manner, instead of calling in and being on hold at her doctors office. Portals are usually linked to a single hospital or office therefore if you had several physicians you frequented you needed to log on to each but an advantage would be if all your physicians belong to one physician group. This would allow for all your doctors to see what each has prescribed or made not of in your charts. Keeping everyone the same page when it comes to your healthcare. One other disadvantage as noted in health news is that small clinics small usually have to absorb all of the start up and training cost involved in using a portal plus the annual usage fee. Smaller clinics couldn’t handle the influx of messages
There are a myriad of concerns related to telemedicine due to the inherent risks involved, which relate to the more obvious reason that most people would think of when the concept of telemedicine arises. One of the most obvious concerns related to telemedicine relate to equipment breakdown. Equipment breakdown is a serious concern to patients and doctors when it comes to telemedicine because in order for telemedicine to function properly it requires that all of the equipment to function smoothly because of the sensitivity of the problems that relate to what is being performed. Examination cameras, remote monitoring devices, digital scopes, mobile telemedicine carts and even surgical robots are all working in tandem in order to prevent the passing along of inaccurate patient information that can seriously harm a patient’s health.
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.
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.
With the help of telehealth and telenursing, overall healthcare costs can be reduced, especially for those patients