Introduction
With emerging technologies such as digital X-rays,
over-the-phone consultations, videoconferences, and remote surgery telemedicine
will become increasingly popular in the future. The biggest advantage that telemedicine presents is the
opportunity for the vast majority of people to access medical care easily and
quickly. A virtual doctor’s chart is an alternative to a traditional in-person
doctor’s visit. Telemedicine is more affordable. It provides an easy way for
patients to communicate with their doctors and get medical advice and
consultation from any place and time (Zhang & Zhang, 2016). Heart disease
is a leading cause of death in the United States (AHA, 2017). Telemedicine can
improve the ability to monitor patients with heart failure, which may lead to
preventing deaths from heart disease and stroke. There are many benefits of
telemedicine but it first needs to overcome significant challenges to become a
practical and useful tool in our society.
Three
Barriers
Scott Frederic emphasizes three main barriers to
telemedicine. The first is the lack of access to high-speed internet service by
healthcare facilities. Many hospitals are still unconnected to wireless networks.
An internet connection plays a big part in the future of telemedicine. Even if
the majority of hospitals have a high-speed internet connection, problems may
still appear. Test runs are an important part of training to prepare hospital
workers to become comfortable with telemedicine technology; these test runs
should be able to identify and resolve any problems in a quick matter of time.
The second barrier is the legal and administrative issue of using telemedicine
and how it relates to potential malpractice cases involving healthcare
providers. Malpractice lawsuits may result from potential disconnections of
virtual consultation due to internet service issues. A disruption in a virtual
consultation may lead patients to follow the wrong treatment, which can injure
a patient. The final barrier is the comfort level involved with physicians and
patients using new technology. Most people tend to be skeptical about emerging
and innovative technologies. Technology is a strong platform for telemedicine.
To practice telemedicine, both parties (patients and physicians) need to come
to an agreement to invest in the necessary technology that can support
telemedicine and then to become comfortable users of this technology (Frederic,
2013).
Security
Risks
There are several security risks with digital communication.
The first one is medical identity theft.
In telemedicine, a virtual meeting between a patient and doctor is an
easy way for someone to steal personally identifiable medical information. The
second concern is the protection of private health information over a
potentially insecure connection. Telemedicine providers must supply services by
special applications that utilize end-to-end encryption to prevent patients’
health data from being tampered with or stolen. If patients’ electronic medical
records need to be transferred from a provider’s computer or from a patient’s
device to another provider for referral or additional consultation,
telemedicine applications need to quickly erase copies from a provider’s
computer or a patient’s device. Physicians that practice telemedicine must
follow the same HIPAA privacy requirements as traditional doctors. Patients
should not connect to a public wi-fi network to participate in telemedicine
appointments. Patients should never share logins and passwords with others
(WHO, 2010).
Background
The term telemedicine was first used in 1970. It literally
meant “healing at a distance”. The use of telemedicine was documented for the
first time in the early 20th century, when electrocardiograph data
was transmitted over a telephone line. However, in the 1960s telemedicine began
to be utilized in its modern form. It was largely promoted by military and
space technology sectors. In the present day, telemedicine is considered to be
the use of telecommunications technology to provide health care services to
patients who are geographically separated from a physician. Telemedicine is
continuously developing because it is based on advanced technologies.
Telemedicine also evolves to respond to emerging health care needs (Field,
1996).
Over time, digital methods have started to transform
traditional person-to-person communication, which makes it possible to connect
to a speaker through technology and overcome the barrier of distance. Recently,
there has been a wide interest in the application of telemedicine among health
care providers, who are focused on more efficient ways of providing care to
patients (WHO, 2010).
Monitoring Patients with Heart Failure
Telemedicine can improve the ability of physicians to
monitor patients with heart failure by non-invasive approaches. With emerging
technologies, devices such as smart glasses and smart watches will be able to
monitor patients’ health data and transport it to healthcare providers’ devices
immediately. Daily monitoring by telemedicine can reduce mortality in patients
with heart failure. Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) management programs are
being developed. They are based on instantaneous interaction between the
patient and health care provider. Both parties will upload, share, and discuss
vital information online. Mobile devices allow daily screening for weight,
blood glucose levels, cholesterol, blood pressure, and many other factors,
which can contribute to heart failure. Telehealth devices can also include
daily questionnaires about warning signs associated with CHF, such as shortness
of breath and lightheadedness. The results of the questionnaire can be
processed and analyzed immediately by professionals (Stefan, Friedrich, &
William, 2011).
Conclusion
Telemedicine will
become increasingly important to the future of health care. It can serve as a
useful tool to physicians and patients in the prevention and treatment of
chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes,
cancer, and arthritis. Telemedicine can improve clinical outcomes for many
patients. When the majority of people become more comfortable users of modern
technology and when telemedicine overcome security risks and three main
barriers; all these facts will help telemedicine to grow into a primary source
of affordable and high quality health care.
References
Field,
M. (1996). A Guide to Assesing
Telecommunications for Health Care. Washington, D.C. : National Academies
Press. Retrieved September 12, 2017 from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.mutex.gmu.edu/bsi/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=075abb58-3d44-43d8-aac3-b774964a55a7%40sessionmgr4010&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnNpLWxpdmU%3d#AN=819&db=nlebk
Frederic,
S. (2013). The key to making telemedicine work. Health Management Technology. 34 (4), 12.
Sun,
L. (2015, December 8). Getting mental health care virtually – at your regular
doctor’s office. The Washington Post,
p. D3. Retrieved September 10, 2017 https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/getting-mental-health-care--virtually--at-your-regular-doctors-office/2015/11/25/403938b0-8e32-11e5-acff-673ae92ddd2b_story.html?utm_term=.1b5ef85d9e40
Stefan,
A., Friedrich, K., & William, A. (2011). Heart failure 4: telemedicine and
remote management of patients with heart failure. The Lancent, 378(9792), 731-739.
Zhang,
X.Y., & Zhang, P. (2016). Telemedicine in clinical setting. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, 12(4),
2405-2407. doi: 10.3892/etm.2016.3656
The World Health Organization, (n.d.)
Retrieved September 17, 2017 from http://www.who.int/goe/publications/goe_telemedicine_2010.pdf
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