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The amalgamated system of health care in the United States has created challenges to deliver effective services to its population. According to Shi and Singh (2015), “health care delivery does not function as a rational and integrated network of components designed to work together coherently.” Prior to the signing of the Accountable Care Act in 2010, the Executive Office of the President Council of Economic Advisors in June 2009 composed a report “The Economic Case for Health Care Reform” which reiterated the ongoing deficiencies with the delivery of healthcare services in the United States.
The COVID pandemic has exacerbated chronic disease outcomes as access was impacted or limited due to the patient’s reluctance to sit in crowded waiting rooms and increase their exposure to contract or spread COVID. Use of Telehealth, video, and/or phone visits where provider and patient are in different physical locations has improved access for patients and their providers. Its use only will continue as reimbursement is supported by payors.
Telehealth, telemedicine, and related terms generally refer to the exchange of medical information from one site to another through electronic communication to improve a patient’s health.
What is telemedicine?
Telemedicine is the practice of medicine using technology to deliver care at a distance. A provider in one location uses a telecommunications infrastructure to deliver care to a patient at a distant site.
What is telehealth?
Telehealth refers broadly to electronic and telecommunications technologies and services used to provide care and services at-a-distance.
What’s the difference?
Telehealth is different from telemedicine in that it refers to a broader scope of remote health care services than telemedicine. Telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services, while telehealth can refer to remote non-clinical services.
“Use of Telehealth, video, and/or phone visits where provider and patient are in different physical locations has improved access for patients and their providers.”
It is this concept, telemedicine that needs to be advanced and integrated within the continuum of healthcare for patients and their outcomes. The Internet of Things (IoT) is described as a network of physical devices that uses connectivity to enable the exchange of data. Incorporation of health metrics, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, pulse-oxygenation, and other basic data transmitted and incorporated into the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) can in real-time allow sound clinical decision making for providers.
Limitations and challenges must be considered as we develop and incorporate this paradigm change in healthcare. Connectivity within the EMR is important as well as how the data is interpreted or displayed within the EMR in order to permit clinical decision making. Equally important is the security that is needed to meet HIPAA standards. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge.
