Telehealth and Telemedicine
The world of telehealth greatly advanced with the covid-19 pandemic and prior had been advancing slowly since its beginnings. Dating back to 1879 when an article in the Lancet when the telephone was identified as useful tool to reduce unnecessary office visits. Moving forward to NASA exploring the need to monitor astronauts remotely during the Mercury Space Program in the late 1950s. With the advancement of technology telehealth and telemedicine has made steady but slow progress over the years. I believe that two driving factors to its advancement would be the ease of remote care for minor easy to diagnose problems, and the benefits of remote monitoring.
Everyone is affected my minor health problems that need to be cared for so that they are not a warning of a deeper issue and so that they do not progress to deeper issues. Patient resources can often be an issue when it comes to overpopulated areas or remote areas. With the aid of telehealth, the overload of institutions and outpatient facilities can be alleviated. A medical professional often can diagnose and treat minor health issues remotely. This saves time for the patient as well as the provider. The patient provider ratio is driven by population as well as distance. The telehealth system allows for a greater population to be seen and takes the distance factor out of the equation, again for minor ailments.
The benefit of remote monitoring is an advanced factor for telehealth which came from NASAs need for monitoring astronauts and pilots during missions. Although the astronauts were in great physical condition, they were being subjected to extreme environments which impacted their well-being. This transitioned to patients who had impaired well-being and medical needs both acute and chronic was extremely useful. When a patient is in a condition that requires frequent assessments, it is because their ailment could progress and require adaptation to the treatment plan. Being able to monitor the patient’s condition remotely allows for timely care to be provided.
Considering remote monitoring we see the useful application of teleICU. This allows for an extra layer of care for patients in critical care who are in the hospital. While they are already being seen by providers the remote monitoring allows for more focus into the patient’s scenario. While some nurses and medical staff may see this as an overreach into providing care as it requires outside personnel to be monitoring with the intent to interject when they see the need, it is an extra layer. It requires understanding that this is patient centered care and has benefits.
The use of the teleICU was presented with an opportunity of growth during the covid-19 pandemic. This allowed for distancing to occur while still monitoring a patient’s condition. Combining the teleICU with telehealth allowed for medical staff to provide care to patients in need. Those who may have seen the flaws of telemedicine above the benefits were able to see its greater side and how it can be extremely helpful in times of need such as the covid-19 pandemic.
As technology grows the way systems within healthcare will be presented with the opportunity of change. With AI advancing rapidly we also see the use of robots. Healthcare settings will benefit by using robot technology so that humans can focus on other tasks such as direct patient-centered care. While robots will become more present in our lives, starting with remedial positions that may involve cleaning or working in hazardous situations, we will see their roles become more advanced. The embracing of technology will help the advancement of our practices in the healthcare settings.
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