Telemedicine In Hospitals

In 1996, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care. In that report, the IOM Committee on Evaluating Clinical Applications of Telemedicine found telemedicine is similar in most respects to other technologies for which better evidence of effectiveness is also being demanded. Telemedicine, however, has some special characteristics-shared with information technologies generally-that warrant particular notice from evaluators and decision makers. Since that time, attention to telehealth has continued to grow in both the public and private sectors. Peer-reviewed journals and professional societies are devoted to telehealth, the federal government provides grant funding to promote the use of telehealth, and the private technology industry continues to develop new applications for telehealth. However, barriers remain to the use of telehealth modalities, including issues related to reimbursement, licensure, workforce, and costs. Also, some areas of telehealth have developed a stronger evidence base than others. The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) sponsored the IOM in holding a workshop in Washington, DC, on August 8-9 2012, to examine how the use of telehealth technology can fit into the U.S. health care system. HRSA asked the IOM to focus on the potential for telehealth to serve geographically isolated individuals and extend the reach of scarce resources while also emphasizing the quality and value in the delivery of health care services. This workshop summary discusses the evolution of telehealth since 1996, including the increasing role of the private sector, policies that have promoted or delayed the use of telehealth, and consumer acceptance of telehealth. The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Workshop Summary discusses the current evidence base for telehealth, including available data and gaps in data; discuss how technological developments, including mobile telehealth, electronic intensive care units, remote monitoring, social networking, and wearable devices, in conjunction with the push for electronic health records, is changing the delivery of health care in rural and urban environments. This report also summarizes actions that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can undertake to further the use of telehealth to improve health care outcomes while controlling costs in the current health care environment.

First Published in 1942. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Telemedicineâ€"the use of information and telecommunications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the participantsâ€"is receiving increasing attention not only in remote areas where health care access is troublesome but also in urban and suburban locations. Yet the benefits and costs of this blend of medicine and digital technologies must be better demonstrated before today's cautious decision-makers invest significant funds in its development. Telemedicine presents a framework for evaluating patient care applications of telemedicine. The book identifies managerial, technical, policy, legal, and human factors that must be taken into account in evaluating a telemedicine program. The committee reviews previous efforts to establish evaluation frameworks and reports on results from several completed studies of image transmission, consulting from remote locations, and other telemedicine programs. The committee also examines basic elements of an evaluation and considers relevant issues of quality, accessibility, and cost of health care. Telemedicine will be of immediate interest to anyone with interest in the clinical application of telemedicine.

This book looks at the history and development of telemedicine and its effect on the medical profession. It includes advances in telecommunications and medical technologies that greatly have increased the reliability, resolution, and speed of transmitting medical images, changes that are have been affected by changes in the national and global economies and the support to rural hospitals during the 1990s.

Telemedicine Based Screening of Infantsat Risk for Retinopathy of Prematurity -- ByOPHTEL:A Bavarian Project for RapidTelemedical Exchange of Knowledge, Files and Skills between Practitionersand Hospitals in Eye Care -- Collaborative Telemedicine between Optometry and Ophthalmology: An Initiative from the University of Houston -- Dermatology -- Web-based Teledermatology Consult system: Preliminary results from the first 100 cases -- Are Dermatologists in Private Practice Interested in Teledermatological Services? -- Pathology -- European Field Tests with HISTKOM Telepathology Equipment -- Radiology -- Economic Analysis of Teleradiology Applications with KAMEDIN -- WWW-Based Access to Radiological Patient Data: Two Years of Experience -- Family Practice and Home Care/Home Monitoring -- Southern Health Board - Advanced Telematic / Telemedicine in Healthcare Services in the South West Of Ireland -- Remote Communities Services Telecentre Project -- HausTeleDienst"--A CATV-based Interactive Video Service for Elderly People -- Fonetix: Building Virtual Speech Therapy Practicum over the Internet -- Psychiatry -- Evaluation of a Canadian Telepsychiatry Service -- Telemedicine in Military -- Functional Characteristics of the Telemedical Network for the Medical Service of the Bundeswehr for Support of Operations Outside Germany and Civil-military Co-operation -- Webliography -- Suggested Telemedicine Websites -- Author Index

Innovations in providing vital health care in homes and remote areas could ultimately change the way society views the health care markets and services in the future. Telehealth systems promise innovations that can extend a hospital’s knowledge and resources, connecting with patients who may not be able to otherwise receive services. Telehealth Network for Hospital Services: New Methodologies carefully focuses on and describes different networks that link hospitals and their services to patients outside their territory. This reference work not only focuses on the technology that is integral to the function of a telehealth network, but also its users, and the collaboration that is necessary to be successful. Researchers, practitioners, and health professionals interested in understanding health markets and organizations, as well as the innovative technologies that help them function, will greatly benefit from this publication.

This issue is a dedicated supplement published in addition to the regular issues of 'Cerebrovascular Diseases' focussing on one specific topic. 'Cerebrovascular Diseases' is a well-respected, international peer-reviewed journal in Neurology. Supplement issues are included in the subscription.

A new addition to the successful telehealth series,Telehealth in the Developing Worldaims to balance the relative lack of published information on successful telehealth solutions in the developing world.