Benefits of Telehealth in chronic diseases
Telehealth-uttered dietary technologies have a positive influence on chronic illness management and they are great sources of clinical practice. However, to use the technologies from the researchers’ findings in medical operations, health physicians require detailed information for each intervention element. It is a reliable technique for offering dietary preventions, treatments and recommendations. A great connection exists between the quality of diet a person lives on and the measures kept in place to prevent and manage chronic illnesses which goes hand in hand with obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses (Eren & Webster, 2015). Telehealth-offering dietary innovations have proven to constantly pull down the chances of hypertension, cholesterol levels causing stroke, triglycerides, body weight, and waist size to patients suffering from chronic illnesses. There are huge challenges that have facilitated the need for adoption of the Telehealth systems. Some of these challenges include; nonattendance to clinics, unreliable means of transport, uninterruptable schedules, prolonged delays, and unfavorable cost for both the clients and the specialists. All these hindrances can be removed by assimilating Telehealth, since it has been approved and welcomed to impact change by participants in dietary routine modifications and chronic illness managing domains (J, M Mars, & Scott, 2014).
Telehealth systems serve a great significance in the world of medical technology. Their significance affects both the patient and medical professionals. The following are some of the benefits associated with it:
- Patients suffering from chronic illnesses are convinced with the results since they can easily access physicians with great skills on clinical care when examining them for complex diseases.
- Through the remote consultations and supervisions Telehealth does away with unnecessary movements by the patient such as admissions and readmissions since health conditions can be handled effectively while the patient is still at home or away from the hospital.
- Practitioners can regularly decide whether it is necessary for a patient to be transferred to a different condition or place to ensure that they are near their supportive and appropriate networks(Cruz-Cunha & Manuela, 2016).
- Clients who are being served in a hospital have the added advantage of the specialists accessing their past records therefore can get a chance to have better but necessary care and treatment. This service is also applicable for patients away from the facility in an easier and efficient way.
- By reducing the unnecessary movements the facility reduces cost of operations by cutting off the cost for transportation. Also physicians can still earn more by working as a Teleconsulatants. The system also identifies the right doctor for a certain illness on time, hence reduces time wastage through proper outlining of duties and creating free time for recreation of the physicians(Khandpur, 2017).
- With the Telehealth systems the hospitals that have installed it can be viewed in a different perception by the society at large since they are capable of offering medical solutions that would not be offered without the availability of Telehealth interventions.
- Doctors, nurses and other professionals can now serve patients who critically need their help who would have lost their lives out of the Telehealth services. By that it also saves time that would have passed and cause more damage(Bernard Fong & Li, 2011).
- Various care centers that have established connections with underserved facilities can evaluate clients so as to identify and estimate when they need to be moved rather than inappropriately move those particular clients that would continue recovering in their current positions. This saves more space and beds to accommodate more patients in the facilities where they can get a more qualitative care.
- Employers pay less money when practitioners are used to handle patients concerns that are in line of their expertise. This allows the physicians to avoid unnecessary transfer due to poor allocation of responsibilities where the wrong specialist is assigned to perform the wrong patient while the right patient is shut to another facility. This also helps to the specialists to keep patients in the facility for a shorter time, since they are treated by the right specialists they tend to respond to the right treatment more efficiently(Holtel & Roth, 2011).
- Last but not the least the whole health care system can use the Telehealth techniques to raise or rather maintain a high number of patients they serve and by lowering the number of medical personnel they use or employ to serve the patients.
In spite of the appreciation for digital health in chronic treatment and dermatology, the research shows that its use is not yet as prevalent as it was likely to be. Via a double-pronged evaluation the scientists tried to comprehend the hindrances and complications influencing digital health negatively towards both patients and practitioners. Evaluating perceptions against the carrying out the e-Health innovations and recommendations by pertinent stakeholders could give significant information which would facilitate a successful implementation fully. (Yang, 2016).
Clients taking part in their own health has always been acknowledged as a core element in the continuous improvement of quality of health care. Research shows that apart from being the final user of e-Health innovations, patient’s attachment at various distinct stages in the implementation functions provides relevant overview which may significantly increase the need for adoption of e-Health technologies in day to day activities that is according to a survey conducted to a number of dermatology nurses seeking their views on implementation of Telehealth innovations, internet and remote supervisions together with the applications that can manage a patient’s medical records individually. (A.J. Maeder & Scott, 2014).
Limitations of Telehealth in Chronic Diseases
Nevertheless, raised and presented their opinions on the accessibility of Telehealth resources in the health centers especially due to financial difficulties, human resources and its security from theft. Also issues on data security came up. Concerns also arose on matters concerning on the amount of work assigned to the practitioners. Research shows that specialists who held a little bit of experience on digital health systems before, understood its importance and warmly embraced the idea of its actualization in care management of chronic diseases. (Reynolds, 2018).
Most patients enjoyed the process of mailing the updates of their health conditions and data records to health practitioners, and the fact that they could also postulate dosage refills, efficient and reliable communication through encrypted messaging and reliable appointment planning. Specialists have easy time retrieving their patients’ health information by login into patient portal (Braxton, 2017). According to other surveys though, patients were not fully confident, due to decrease in chances of interacting physically with the physician due to over-reliance on digital health. Clients also brought up another barrier on Telehealth implementation by refusing to pay the money for using the digital applications which came hand in hand with their doubts on the safety of their personal information and the certainty of how long it was going to keep their information (Sik-La?nyi & Cudd, 2015).
- Expectations of both clients and physicians.
Clients: The use of social media and the Internet has modified the way that people get details of their health concerns. Personal doctors and other professionals are relied on mostly as the information wellsprings for most patients when they encounter health issues, currently online platforms such as getting advice from other patients have greatly grown as a reliable source of health recommendation. Patients expect to receive the same treatment and results after they have been with physicians as they have learnt from their friends through the internet (Carlson, 2015).
Medical professionals: most physicians encounter problems as a result of advancements in healthcare management, qualifications, malpractice allegations, trustworthiness and consumerism have transformed the practice of medicine and affected the patient-doctor relationship. Providers are getting more and more uncomfortable with the amount of time assigned for them to fully analyze the exact health complications of their patients.
- Reconstructing the traditional health care experience
The ancient eye-to-eye office or hospital visit is made up of various components. Each and every element must be evaluated and estimate its value. The data gathered may be accustomed to redesign the elements of the healthcare experience for the future so as to eliminate the old ones. If possible, cheaper technology that fully manipulates the potential of Telehealth should be synchronized into the future system (L. & Maeder, 2018).
- openness to discovery
Factors to consider to achieve safe care to patients through Telehealth
Various Telehealth interventions are developed to offer convenient care which is safer and easily accessible to the patient such as encrypted messaging, interacting with physicians through virtual videos and also using mobile phones cameras, picture impulse and dermis injury. There are other technologies that will access more new boulevards of care delivery where clients may not notice that medical examination and monitoring activities are going on (Kumar & Snooks, 2013).
- Space enhancement
This includes both the physical and emotional conditions where simulated events are experienced. For instance, in case a person requires health care services when working, the workplace is unlikely to have the easiness and comfort necessary for an effective Telehealth experience. It’s recommendable for public social amenities to be redesigned to create an appropriate space to promote and enhance the Telehealth care services (Scott, 2009).
Conclusion
Digital health applications through Telehealth systems have been prevalently commended of late, as crucial interventions for chronic care management. Telehealth is the use of a technology-based virtual platform to deliver various aspects of health information, prevention, monitoring, and medical care. The best ever growing segment of health care, Telehealth’s largest section is telemedicine. Narrowly, telemedicine is described as the practice of medicine via a remote electronic crossing point. There are divisions within telemedicine deliverance. In practice, the majority of hospital-based health care delivery is doctor-to-doctor, providing expert specialist medicine to often rural, international, or non-specialist physicians. In contrast, patient-to-doctor medical care is a growing market, and via direct-to-consumer services, patients can reach physicians via telemedicine. They can equip patients ‘knowledge on chronic diseases, by reviewing their past medical histories, being more educated on how to effectively attend to self-management nimbleness and to oversee health progress and changes. The goal of Telehealth is better access to health care while maintaining medical expenses. One of the most successful applications of Telehealth is the reduction of health disparities to areas with limited physician access. Telehealth aims to eliminate transportation costs, which often burden patients of low socioeconomic status. Through similar mechanisms, it can improve health literacy by providing patient education and prevent hospitalizations with the assurance of medication adherence. According to researchers focusing on e-health technologies and embracing it fully through modifications where possible and necessary will increase and promote efficiency of health care services and in the management of chronic diseases (Sirintrapun & Maria, 2018).
Reference:
A.J. Maeder, M. M., & Scott, R. E. (2014). Global Telehealth. Netherlands: IOS Press BV.
Bernard Fong, & Li, C. K. (2011). Telemedicine Technologies: Information Technologies in Medicine and Telehealth. John Wiley & Sons.
Braxton, J. H. (2017). Cardiothoracic Surgery, An Issue of Surgical Clinics, E-Book. Elsevier.
Carlson, R. W. (2015). Telemedicine in the ICU, An Issue of Critical Care Clinics, E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Cruz-Cunha, & Manuela, M. (2016). Encyclopedia of E-Health and Telemedicine. IGI Global.
Eren, H., & Webster, J. G. (2015). Telehealth and Mobile Health. UK: CRC Press.
Holtel, M., & Roth, Y. (2011). Telehealth in Otolaryngology. Saunders.
KHANDPUR, R. (217). TELEMEDICINE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS (MHEALTH, TELEHEALTH ANDeHealthH). PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Kumar, S., & Snooks, H. (2013). Telenursing. Springer Science & Business Media.
L., M. E., & Maeder, A. J. (2018). Telehealth for Our Ageing Society: Selected Papers from Global Telehealth 2017. IOS Press, Incorporated.
Maeder, A., & E., R. S. (2014). Global Telehealth 2014. IOS Press.
Reynolds, G. W. (2018). Ethics in information technology. Boston, MA : Cengage.
Scott, R. E. (2009). Telehealth in the Developing World. IDRC.
Sik-La?nyi, C., & Cudd, P. (2015). Assistive technology : building bridges. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Sirintrapun, S. J., & Maria, A. L. (2018). HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, CLINICAL INFORMATICS, AND QUALITY OF CARE. Telemedicine in Cancer Care, 540.
Yang, T. (2016). Telehealth Parity Laws. Project HOPE.