Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications to provide clinical health care and to exchange medical information from a distance, and it may be the solution to the U.S. health care access problem. The University of Virginia Health System has implemented their new Center for Telehealth program, allowing physicians from 40 specialties to partner with over 100 community hospitals, clinics, and schools to provide care for people who otherwise would not have access. However, this program is not unique to Virginia; there is a telemedicine program in every state, involving everything from psychiatric evaluations to prenatal care. Telemedicine can provide primary care and specialist referral services, remote patient monitoring, consumer health information, and medical education. With the predicted doctor shortage and the insurance coverage of the Affordable Care Act, telemedicine is believed to have a positive influence on the health care system. Its benefits include reducing hospital readmission rates, saving patients time and miles in travel for health care, improved access to both rural and urban areas, and keeping costs low, all done through simple services such as Skype or instant-messaging.
However, this also raises questions to what regulations may be necessary to fully implement telemedicine, which could transform our health care system into a virtual health care system. There are currently restrictions in place for physicians practicing outside the state they are licensed in, and telemedicine results in many issues regarding HIPAA and the protection of patients' privacy. To be sure, telemedicine introduces huge implications for the future of technology, medicine, and health care in both public- and private-sector settings.
Link:
http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/16/saving-u-s-health-care-with-skype/
I think it’s fantastic that our society can utilize technology to reach people in need of medical care. My reservations with this program focus on how to ensure medical care is understood and trusted, time constraints, and the potential decrease of care to local patients. The telemedicine program relies on Skype and instant messaging as ways of receiving medical care. I wonder if patients would be able to fully understand medical advice within the confines of instant messages. If they were able to understand, I question a patient’s ability to trust recommendations from a physician they have never met. The article suggests that there will be a severe doctor shortage with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and the need for physicians will skyrocket. Would a physician be able to keep up with the growing telemedicine requests? I also wonder how a telemedicine visit would rank on a doctor’s priority list and schedule. If such a visit required just as much time as a typical office visit, I fear that this new form of medicine would take away care availability from local patients. Overall, I think the system is a great way to start reaching those in need of medical care, but I would like to know more details about the implementation of telemedicine to feel more secure about it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a growing trend within the field of medicine. There is a world-renowned telemedicine program located here in our state. It's called ANGELS and it is a program for pregnant women living in rural areas of the state where there is limited access to obstetricians. Many of these women are labeled "high risk" because of underlying medical conditions that put them at risk for pre-term labor. Often times these women have to travel great distances (1-2 hours) to reach a town that has a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. To address the travel barrier, UAMS started the ANGELS program which connects women in rural Arkansas with specialty physicians in Little Rock. It's a telemedicine program that has shown tremendous outcomes. Even now we are experiencing physician shortages, especially primary care physicians. Telemedicine can allow nurse practitioners and physician assistants to become more involved in the delivery of medical care. I am worried, like Savannah, about the implications this has for patients with low health literacy. Will we trust the advice of a computer doctor in the same way we would a face-to-face doctor? We will come back to this topic later in the semester when we start talking about our health care system.
ReplyDeleteI actually had an experience with telemedicine this past summer and I have to say it made me a bit nervous. I was trying to make an appointment with a new dermatologist, but before they would let me physically come in to their office I had to have a "consultation" over instant message. I definitely felt like I had no idea who i was talking to, and some of the information I was giving seemed too personal to share with some random woman at the other end of the messages. I think the idea of telemedicine is a great one, however I think the most appropriate form would be over Skype. Maybe I'm just too personal about these things and maybe it just depends on the severity of your medical problem, as well as your personal comfort level with discussing your health issues. Of course a dermatologist visit isn't as big of a deal as an OBGYN visit, but I like to be face to face (in person or over Skype) with the doctor who will be treating my problems!
ReplyDelete