What is Telemedicine? Essay Example

Telemedicine has evolved into a completely viable option for many patients. The advantages are perceived from the perspective of considering the communication ability which is afforded to many rural patients. Telemedicine has become a viable alternative in areas where the populations reside in remote areas with less accessibility to health care resources.  There has been substantial progress over the past decade and a half with regards to telemedicine. Telemedicine is reviewed as an interdisciplinary implement which facilitates the delivery of health care services to patients in areas which have conventionally been inaccessible. In this essay a few of the assertive aspects which should be performed will be discusses in comparison with the adverse actions which should not be performed (Shah, 2012). Here are some of the activities which should be performed and assumptions which should be made:

Conventionally accessible web conference programs should be applied in order to facilitate conferences between care providers. Examples of some of the web tools which can be applied in order to facilitate conferences between healthcare providers and patients are: Skype, Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting and WebEx. These implementations can be transformed into becoming compliant with the regulations established by the HiPAA (Shah, 2012).

Medical components which are applied in the residential setting of the patient facilitate enhanced clinical observation. A nurse or health care provider personnel may be applied in order to visit the patients on a regular basis and provide calibration for the medical components which are in the home for clinical observation of the patient (Shah, 2012).

The mental health counseling services can be conducted by means of Skype, Adobe Connect, GoToMeeting and WebEx.  Many different types of mental health disorders can be readily diagnosed by telemedicine. The population for which these types of mental health services is advantageous are veterans who have served abroad in the armed forces and return with mental health disorders which can be readily diagnosed by applying the appropriate consultation. This aspect increases the effectiveness of telemedicine due to the characteristic that many veterans reside in rural areas in which health care is more difficult to gain access (Shah, 2012).

Avoid leaving the patients in isolation. The patients should be encouraged to participate in the local health care communities which convene online. These aspects facilitate that the patients communicate with their neighbors online. The electronic neighborhood tools which include PatientsLikeMe.com can be used to facilitate networking between patients in urban and rural areas. The aspect of enabling the patient to be helpful to one another is a novel and effective perspective in health care. The patient may not have the need for consulting with a health care professional. The capacity of being able to communicate with neighbors who are experiencing similar concerns and problems are often a significant help for the patients’ well-being (Shah, 2012).

Dont’s

It cannot be assumed that connecting the medical components will be endeavors which can always be conducted by the health care professional or nurse. Additional connectivity with the cloud computing system will be required. This supplemental connectivity may be composed of a Class 1 FDA approved gateway which possesses an embedded cellular. Another potential option which may be applied is the 2net platform which is manufactured by Qualcomm (Shah, 2012).

Do not always be ready to request that the patients go to a laboratory. The laboratory work can be delivered to the patient by means of laboratory sample collections. The laboratory sample stands can provide radiographies, photographs and conduct collections. Subsequently, the information which has been derived from the laboratory samples can be transmitted to the larger health care facilities for review and analysis. Services which include the psychological well-being of the patient can be made available by means of telemedicine (Shah, 2012).

Quick Links

How to improve communication between caregivers and patientshttp://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect/elearning.html http://www.gotomeeting.com/online/sitemap

http://www.skypeassets.com/i/common/images/misc/dummy.png http://www.skype.com/en/ https://signup.webex.com/webexmeetings/US/sem_acquisition.html?CPM=KNC-sem&TrackID=1031291&Country=

What are the HIPAA regulations on telemedicine? http://blog.clickcare.com/blog/?Tag=Telemedicine+and+HIPAA

Where to find out about wireless connections on medical devices http://www.qualcomm.com/solutions/healthcare

Where can I find out more information on the application of information resources in telemedicine http://www.mckinsey.com/client_service/healthcare_systems_and_services

Where can patient support groups be found in my area? http://www.patientslikeme.com/

Reference

Shah, S. (2012). Do’s and Dont’s of telemedicine. The Healthcare IT Guy, January 17^th, 2012.