Thede (2003) defines telehealth as using electronic communications for transmitting healthcare information such as health promotion, disease prevention, professional or lay education, diagnosis or actual treatment to people located at a different geographical location.
After reading the attached article
http://www.telemedtoday.com/articles/Telehomenurse.shtmlit is surprising that we do not experience many or any of these “video” visits being made in our communities.
As a homecare supervisor, I am able to speculate how telehealth could benefit my staff and our patients. Closer monitoring of chronically ill patients would allow for medical interventions sooner in an exacerbation, possibly preventing or decreasing Emergency Room visits or re-hospitalizations. Fewer trips to the hospital would save Medicare, Medicaid and Insurance companies’ money. Stressors of short staffing are alleviated as each nurse could visit more patients per day via video. Nurses would decrease the number of miles they drive in a day resulting in less mileage reimbursement paid by agencies and less money spent for gas by nurses. Less time traveling, results in more time spent with patients.
I am however, in the early stages of my research. I do not know how costly telehealth may be to install. I am not sure how long it will take a telehealth installation to pay for itself or how long before any telehealth system needs to be upgraded due to advances in technology.
Please comment on any of the following aspects of telehealth:
- Telehealth and Nurse retention
- Telehealth and the Nursing shortage
- Telehealth and use with chronic diseases: COPD, CHF, Diabetes, etc.
- Telehealth and specific populations: rural communities, homebound patients
- Legal considerations for nurses practicing in a telehealth setting
- Cost effectiveness of telehealth. Reimbursement from primary and secondary payers
- Telehealth and disaster care
- Telehealth and patient safety
- Patient privacy, data security and telehealth
Your comments will help me to possibly have a better understanding as to why telehealth is not being used in our communities.
