Telehealth in Brief
Definition: The electronic transfer of medical information, either synchronous or asynchronous, for the purpose of providing patient care.
Bottom line: It’s a tool to enhance the provision of quality care.
Common Applications:
- Telemedicine (interactive video)
- Medical education
- Store & Forward (digital pictures sent via a secure link for specialist review)
- Teleradiology
- Telehomecare (monitoring in the patient’s home)
- Remote intensive care monitoring
- e-health (information obtained from the internet and/or consults held via the internet)
- Telepharmacy
Benefits:
- Increases access to specialist
- Enhances the quality and coordination of care
- Helps address the healthcare professional shortage in rural areas
- Utilizes professional time more efficiently
- Saves patient and provider travel
- Saves patient loss of work time or children loss of school time
- Supports the local main street and health care community by keeping the patient at home
- Medical education can be obtained locally
- Enhances professional relationships
- Bridges the distance between hometown providers and advanced specialty practices
Telehealth examples:
- Using interactive video conferencing, a physician can examine a patient located in another community. This enables them to:
- View the patient’s wound closely
- Listen to the heart and lungs through an electronic stethoscope
- View echos and ultrasounds
- Make a plan of care with the patient and family in the comfort of their home community
- With telehomecare a patient suffering with heart failure can be monitored closely for early signs of health problems:
- Early detection can prevent a hospitalization
- Frequent monitoring will allow patients to remain in their own home longer
- Telepharmacy allows a pharmacist to provide services remotely to a community without a pharmacist
- Health education can be provided via video conferencing to rural communities
Telehealth – Encouraging the right care at the right time in the right place
