What is Telehealth?
Telehealth (the naming coming from health using the telephone system) is a method of supporting an individual in their own home, and it can be used to complement existing care packages used by individuals. This service is provided through the use of remote monitoring of an individual’s vital signs within their own home, through the use of electronic sensors or other equipment that can be used to monitor an individual’s vital signs. By monitoring an individual’s vital signs remotely it can aid diagnosis, assessment and management of an individual’s condition, without them having to leave their home.
Telehealth can be used to measure and monitor and measure a number of different areas and these include: blood pressure, blood glucose levels, oxygen levels and weight. These systems can be beneficial because they can reduce the number of visits that an individual needs to make to their doctor or to the hospital.
Telehealth Services
Telehealth can provide individuals with a number of different services including: specialist referral services, patient consultations, and remote patient monitoring. Specialist referral services involve both a doctor and a specialist, who work together to come up with an accurate diagnosis for the individual. Patient consultations use video and audio in order to come up with a diagnosis and an effective treatment plan. Remote patient monitoring is where devices are used remotely to collect data that is sent to a monitoring station and is interpreted by a health professional. This helps professionals to come up with an effective treatment plan and to spot any changes in condition quickly.
Benefits of Telehealth
Telehealth can provide a number of benefits, for example the system may help to increase an individual’s level of independence and control. This in turn will help to boost confidence and self-esteem whilst making them feel more secure at home. Benefits of Telehealth also include: improved access to medical specialists, effective diagnosis and treatment, decreased stress, travel, and costs.
Remote patient monitoring is most likely to provide benefits to an individual living within their own homes, and this is largely because it allows an individual to maintain some levels of independence for as long as possible. The system would also be very beneficial to those who live in remote areas, as it would greatly reduce travel costs, and make getting a diagnosis and treatment much more straightforward.
Quality of life can also be greatly improved through the use of Telehealth, as hospitalisation can be avoided. This can be beneficial for all involved with the case, and this can save travel costs, and treatment. This in turn will improve monitoring and follow up on any equipment required.
Telehealth can be used effectively for patients with long term conditions because the other choice would be longer stays in hospital. With the technology available the person can be in a ‘virtual ward’ at home being monitored 24 hours a day.
Disadvantages of Telehealth
Even though there are many benefits that Telehealth can have on an individual, there can be a few difficulties in setting up the system and its initial running. For example in an individual’s home it may be difficult to set up and find space for the equipment. Training for using the equipment may also pose some issues in the initial stages, as well as being able to operate the equipment. This may be a result of poor mobility.
Overall Telehealth can be a very positive addition to an individual’s care package within their own home, as it provides them with support from health professionals. This can have a significant impact on an individual’s daily living, and this is because of the additional support on hand the individual’s confidence, self-esteem may increase and their ability to complete tasks on their own may also improve.
A complaint about Telehealth has been about the initial capital cost but it most likely that Telehealth will be delivered as a packaged service involving a monthly charge which will make it more effective for health services to buy.