Saturday, 2 February 2019

Primary Care Providers, Specialists And Telehealth

By Karen Hill


When an individual talks about health care, it is most often about the high cost of health care or health insurance. In addition, there are often conversations related to clinic visits or hospitalization. While this is the case, there is now a new option when it comes to acquiring care, that of Telehealth, a service that uses different digital technologies and telecommunication devices.

With this new service, individuals can stay in contact with medical providers while also acquiring advice, education, intervention, being monitored and can be admitted to hospitals and rehabilitation from the comfort of home. In addition, providers can attend distance learning courses, supervise care, give presentations and attend meetings from anywhere in the world. Whereas, as the service also hosts online information and management systems, records can also be accessed from remote locations.

Some additional ways in which the service can be beneficial is in providing physical therapy via remote access with digital monitoring devices, data sharing of CT scans, X-rays and MRIs and performing surgeries via remote access. Whereas, providers can also use the service to converse over telephone or videophone and to discuss cases while video conferencing with higher level specialists.

Medical advances are now being made in preparation for the growth and aging of the population. For, as this happens, the demands on health care providers, hospitals and rehabilitation facilities also increase. In many cases, health care professionals are being asked to do more and more without any additional funding. Whereas, others are often encouraged to change billing and funding methods based on patient outcome, rather than charging fees for individual services.

The reason for these individuals being asked to do so is due to an ongoing shortage of primary health care providers and specialists in the United States and the world at large. In fact, one of the hardest hit areas when it comes to specialists is that of speech and language therapists and pathologists. Whereas, in rural settings, the lack of transportation available to the disabled and elderly and the lack of staff at clinics and hospitals have resulted in decreased funding for care.

Telemedicine is similar in application to tele-health though the Health Resources And Service Administration has defined the differences. For the most part, telemedicine only refers to remote clinical access and services such as diagnosis and monitoring. Whereas, telecommunication health services provide for administrative tasks, provider education and curative, preventative and promotional care.

The development and history of both tele-applications is deeply rooted in the ongoing growth of technology as well as society. For, people have long desired to relay messages over long distances. In the beginning, torches, electroscopes, optical telegraphy, telegrams, telegraphs, mail and telephones. Now, these early forms of messaging have been replaced by Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and other social networking websites.

The 20th and 21st century have paved the way for beepers, digital devices, including smart phones, notepads and laptops, all of are being used for electronic mail, video conferencing, chatting, tweeting and telephone conversations. In addition, video sites such as YouTube are now playing an integral role in training individuals in a number of areas, including the medical profession. As such, tele-health may just be the beginning of a new phase of digital technology used by clinics, hospitals, primary care providers, specialists, patients and others.




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