Telemedicine

Telemedicine and telehealth are changing the face of health care delivery and becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. Dr. Darkins and Dr. Cary share their knowledge and provide practical insights and advice on making telemedicine programs into successful clinical services and a productive business. The book gives background knowledge and useful tips on starting up and managing programs in an array of settings. Most importantly, the book is based on the recognition that patients are customers of health care and telemedicine companies developing new products vital to delivering care to rural or inaccessible clients is vital to health care's future.

According to one of the numerous definitions of telemedicine "providing medicine at a distance" any doctor being trained in the use of some telematic devices could effort that practice. The reality is far from this because, to assure a safe practice, people have to learn and bear a minimum understanding of a wide range of topics: from economics to telecommunications and from medicine to legal aspects Technology learning is not limited to technology itself but linked to its social practical consequences in all their aspects. To guarantee that none of the aspects related with telemedicine are missed, this minimum knowledge has to be fixed, organised and in some way standardised. The main purpose of this book is to structure the basic knowledge linked to teaching to provide or practising telemedicine as well as an overview of the technology developments linked to this new discipline. As expressed in the title, the book is precisely structured as a "handbook" ( the only existing one ) whose main value is the joint opinion of all the participating authors of what are the minimum teaching requirements for anyone that would like to learn telemedicine. It is not a full treatise nor a complete recollection of all telemedicine applications or telemedicine basics. It was built with the aim of creating awareness to the academic authorities and health care community representatives on the fact that telemedicine practices in any of their aspects (technology development, telecommunications approach, law and regulations, medical practice), require a minimum knowledge that has to be respected in order to guarantee safe and appropriate medical practice. Nowadays this fact is enhanced by the evidence that welfare expenses cannot be endlessly increased, whilst an efficient health provision system in the context of the information society, will mark a new trend to configure health care practice in the next century. If training and teaching schemes are to cope with the demands of society it seems obvious that those careers and professions that are purvey to the Body of Knowledge BoK of telemedicine should consider structured and sufficient training in telemedicine.

Fundamentals of Telemedicine and Telehealth provides an overview on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to solve health problems, especially for people living in remote and underserviced areas. With the advent of new technologies and improvement of internet connectivity, telehealth has become a new subject requiring a new understanding of IT devices and how to utilize them to fulfill health needs. The book discusses topics such as digitizing patient information, technology requirements, existing resources, planning for telehealth projects, and primary care and specialized applications. Additionally, it discusses the use of telemedicine for patient empowerment and telecare in remote locations. Authored by IMIA Telehealth working group, this book is a valuable source for graduate students, healthcare workers, researchers and clinicians interested in using telehealth as part of their practice or research. Presents components of healthcare that can be benefitted from remote access and when to rely on them Explains the current technologies and tools and how to put them to effective use in daily healthcare Provides legal provisions for telehealth implementation, discussing the risks of remote healthcare provision and cross border care

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.

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.

E-Health, Telehealth, and Telemedicine is a hands-on resource that shows how communication technologies can be designed, implemented, and managed to help health care professionals expand and transform their organizations. Step by step the authors reveal how to introduce innovative communication tools to a wide range of health care settings. This indispensable book contains a wealth of information, suggestions, and advice about program development, ethical, legal and regulatory issues, and and technical options.

Telemedicine, the practice of transferring medical data using interactive audio, visual and data communication systems, is fast becoming indispensable in modern medicine, healthcare and education. This volume reviews the rapidly expanding and changing field of telemedicine in general with a special focus on teledermatology. As well as presenting historical and technological aspects, the book also describes several of the many fields of application in detail - one of them being teleteaching which already forms an essential part of medical training. Another major issue in telemedicine is the discussion of legal and ethical aspects of teleconsulting. Further contributions acquaint the reader with the various possibilities of telemedicine such as telemedicine for the family doctor, teleradiology, applications in surgery, telepathology, telecardiology, telemedicine in oncology and ophthalmology, and telepsychiatry. The particular aspects of teledermatology are discussed in detail in a separate section. All healthcare professionals from the medical practitioner to the pharmacist, healthcare manager, nurse or technician will find this compilation of up-to-date data valuable reading. The detailed discussion of teledermatology makes it indispensable for the dermatologist.

In this publication, leading experts present all the different aspects to be met for practically enabling advanced health telematics and telemedicine such as architectural issues, electronic health records, communication, security and safety as well as the legal and ethical implications. The international collaboration work's outcome, ongoing efforts and future directions are discussed in deep and broad detail. Represented by health professionals, computer scientists, managers, lawyers and politicians, the book addresses developers, users and decision-makers as well.