Telehealth- A New Healthcare Delivery System
DISCUSSION POST: Assume you have the ability to select one major new health policy for implementation. Select a topic from those presented in this week\’s readings. THIS WEEK\’S TOPIC: future trends in health care delivery, technology, and financing. Please write about TELEHEALTH- new healthcare delivery system Using 500-550 words, address the following: Describe your topic and why you chose it. What is the expected impact of your topic on population health within the next five years? Telehealth- A New Healthcare Delivery System
Telehealth
Telehealth refers to the provision of healthcare services using both electronic information and telecommunication technologies. Thus, telehealth is the inclusion of digital communication and information-related technologies in providing and delivering healthcare services (Tuckson et al., 2017). Some of the digital information and communication technologies used include computers, mobile devices, websites, and android apps. Thus, telehealth encompasses various components, such as healthcare services’ delivery, application of digital and communication technologies, health information services, and healthcare educations.
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Telehealth applies digital information and communication technologies in various ways to enable the provision of quality healthcare services. A major application of digital information and communication technologies in telehealth is diagnosing patients’ conditions and injuries (Tuckson et al., 2017). For instance, most patients will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination to diagnose any prevailing problems with ones’ internal organs such as the brain, joints, heart, and the spinal cord. The Magnetic resonance imaging examination will more often provide information that the Computed Tomography (CT) scan. Telehealth- A New Healthcare Delivery System
On top of diagnosing, telehealth applies digital and communication technologies to exchange information in the treatment of diseases, conditions, and injuries. More so, telehealth applies digital information and communication technologies in medical and health-related researches, exchanging their information and their evaluation. Also, telehealth applies digital information and communication technologies in the provision of continuing and advancing education to healthcare professionals and health education to the general public(Tuckson et al., 2017). Thus, the application of digital information and communication technologies in telehealth occurs in various ways, from diagnosis patients’ conditions and the exchange of information in the treatment of diseases and injuries to educating the healthcare personnel and the general public.
Impact of Telehealth on Population in 5 Years
Telehealth is projected to have a great positive impact on the population in the next five years. Mainly, telehealth will enable a healthy population in the next five years, especially in two ways. First, telehealth associates with an increased patient engagement level, for it helps patients maintain their care schedules and check-up appointments (Kruse et al., 2017). Secondly, telehealth relates to effective virtual consultations, thus easing patients’ connection and communication with physicians.
The two ways of telehealth will enable the effective achievement of optimal universal health coverage. More so, these will also enable regular and on-time patients’ attendance as well as close patient-physicians association, communication, and effective physicians’ follow-up on to their patients. Collectively, these reduce populations’ morbidity and mortality rates and severity of disease arising from increased populations’ checkup attendances and communication with healthcare personnel (Kruse et al., 2017). These sums up to and contribute to the presence of a healthy population in the near future. Telehealth- A New Healthcare Delivery System
More so, telehealth is projected to help individuals all over the globe access quality healthcare services irrespective of their locality. The existence of telehealth is argued to improve the healthcare services and standards to every population, even the marginalized, due to its operation mode. Telehealth operates through digital communications technologies such as mobile devices. The use of mobile devices in telehealth enables healthcare services to reach even those living in rural areas or encountering mobility challenges (Leath et al., 2018). As a result, every community, irrespective of its locality, will acquire quality healthcare services through the introduction and application of telehealth in the healthcare sector. Thus, the prevalence of telehealth will, in the near future, enable the global community to access quality healthcare services, even those in rural areas with transport challenges.
References
Leath, B. A., Dunn, L. W., Alsobrook, A., & Darden, M. L. (2018). Enhancing rural population health care access and outcomes through the Telehealth EcoSystem™ model. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 10(2).
Tuckson, R. V., Edmunds, M., & Hodgkins, M. L. (2017). Telehealth. New England Journal of Medicine, 377(16), 1585-1592.
Kruse, C. S., Krowski, N., Rodriguez, B., Tran, L., Vela, J., & Brooks, M. (2017). Telehealth and patient satisfaction: a systematic review and narrative analysis. BMJ open, 7(8), e016242.
Telehealth- A New Healthcare Delivery System