Telemedicine Assessment Paper

Great post and very informative. You did a great job and wrote a detailed problem statement regarding Telehealth. Telehealth has great potential in providing care to many patients. Great questions that you are asking regarding telehealth. The questions should help shed some light on the current problem relating to telehealth.

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

Telemedicine services often result in the creation of health information in formats that historically have not been part of the patient’s medical record such as audio recordings, videos and other forms of remote monitoring data (Erbetta, 1999).  While hospitals and other providers have some flexibility in determining the information that comprises the medical record, there are circumstances where an organization may want or the law may require that such information to be included in the record.  For example, it may be necessary to include such information in the medical record in order to comply with state medical record laws or for risk-management purposes (McCrossin, 2003).

Telehealth is becoming a widely-used tool for seeking medical care, or consultation. The world of technology we live in is ever growing, making healthcare easily accessible through telehealth. While many different organizations define telehealth using different words, they all have the same idea. I found in my research that telehealth and telemedicine are defined differently.

Telehealth service is becoming increasingly used especially in rural communities where it is difficult to get health care providers to go to such communities to provide health care services; often, in such communities, you have just one or two primary care providers for a large population of people. States are now more than ever recognizing the benefits of treating disease in a timely manner to prevent worsening and potential hospitalization which is hard to do in some rural Counties. According to The National conference of State legislatures, 43 states and the District of Columbia now provide some form of Medicaid reimbursement for telehealth services and 19 states and the District of Columbia now require private insurance plans in the state

For telehealth to be as effective there is a lot that a healthcare organization and provider would have to go through. There are special

Johnson (OH-6-R); Rep. Matsui* (CA-6-D); Rep. Meehan (PA-7-R); Rep. Carson (IN-7-D); Rep. Henry Johnson (GA-4-D)

One such plan that works well with a technology program such as this one is Kotter’s eight step change model (Mount and Anderson, 2015). Telemedicine is a new concept to both patients in the region, along with the primary care community. It will be important to use the story of the patients who cannot access care, but want to engage in their care plan to create a sense of urgency amongst the health care community. This sense of urgency will develop an understanding of a need for change. Following this a guiding coalition needs to be developed to promote collaboration for implementing this solution. Kotter’s change model works here as it overlaps well with Roger’s theory that was discussed earlier. These two complementary theories need to be used to strengthen the case for implementation of telemedicine in the community. Once the guiding coalition is in place, leaders must develop a vision for the change. The vision needs to be based off of a sense of urgency. Having vision will keep the team on track with what the goal of the project is. Communication is the next phase of Kotter’s model, and perhaps one of the most important. Communication of the vision of the project is so critical from the executive offices, to the medical staff, on to the patient population. Everyone must understand why this project is so important. Empowerment occurs when key players in the team receive the tools, and abilities to accomplish the necessary tasks to achieve the vision. Once the ball gets rolling on the project it is important to celebrate short term wins. Short term wins build momentum in the program, along with fostering empowerment so more people get involved. Consolidation of improvements is another important step of Kotter’s model. As the telemedicine project progresses there will be lessons learned.

Telehealth is a newer form of healthcare that is presenting a positive impact on patients’ health and on healthcare costs. Telehealth covers a range of technology from mobile device use to physician to physician or physician to patient consults through video to assessing a patient physically who is in a different state or country. This type of technology is becoming an acceptable form of healthcare for patients, providers and insurers. Telehealth is improving the outcomes for patients while decreasing the costs of healthcare. Physician offices as well as hospitals are diving deeper into this type of care. The ability to monitor patients remotely saves time and money for the patient but also decreases visits to the hospital. In 2012 it was reported that 308,000 patients around the world utilized remote monitoring for: hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure (CHF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and mental health conditions. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) estimated in 2009 that utilization of remote monitoring could reduce healthcare costs by $197 billion dollars by 2025. PWC also found that one out of two respondents surveyed were open to utilizing technology for healthcare. The Veteran’s Administrator’s telehealth program showed that utilization of health systems was reduced by 30% for those enrolled in the telehealth program. (Thomas-Hertz, 2013)

My thoughts about the new and innovative way of caring for patients by receiving telemedicine is that it’s a good idea. I read the article that mentioned that telemedicine is a good way to keep the health expenditure down. I also found it interesting about the first use of telemedicine in the 1960’s. According to Eastwood, a microwave line was to connect General Hospital with Logan International Airport, so patients could be examined. I believe that truly support the point that telemedicine is a cable and useful way to connect with the patients that don’t have the transportation options to go to a health care center to visit with a doctor. There would be no issue about if the hospital rooms are unavailable. As Eastwood also mentioned in the

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

The benefit to telemedicine is the patient wouldn’t have to come into the pharmacy. This would make the patients life easier and save them time. The limitations I foresee with telemedicine is how will it be implemented. Implementing telemedicine will require learning new software, and new equipment, and finding a software venders which take time and money. Although the idea sounds good, I personally think it would be better if patient call or come to the pharmacy to receive the medication and get counseled.

This convergence is the perfect example of Telemedicine for a healthier and happier life. With the right arguments and supports this convergence can easily be accomplished and this can give birth to this medical method. Health support is very important for the society we are living in, and that is why we must focus time, energy, and money in the developing of new methods for health care.

Telemedicine is becoming increasingly popular. The technology is moving so fast that it is arising ethical and legal issues.

As a conclusion, telemedicine will continue to be a dynamic influence within the profession of medicine. Overall, the benefits of this innovation will be in two primary areas which are medical benefits and cost benefits. First, as we know, telemedicine is a logical extension of the growth of the technological and technical aspects of health care. The medical benefits of an active telemedicine program are related to how professionals use the technology. A modification of a famous analogy used in educational research when applied to telemedicine summarizes the medical impact of telemedicine (“University of Utah Health Care | Salt Lake City, Utah,” n.d.).