According to Burke & Weill, telemedicine is the delivery of health care over telecommunication lines (2013). Telemedicine has become increasingly popular in the field of mental health, as it has been providing patients with quick and efficient access to mental health professionals via videoconference, messaging system, phone or email. This technology has been especially appealing for individuals living in remote areas, who otherwise would not have access to mental health specialists. Telemedicine is not intended to replace traditional therapy, but rather offers additional options of convenience and accessibility. There are many advantages associated with offering telemedicine in the mental health field. One advantage to this process would …show more content…
Another advantage to this type of therapy would be its flexibility and easy accessibility. Since this therapy is offered via the internet, the time of therapy can be more flexible to work around the patient’s schedule. It also provides easy access to individuals who are homebound, and have no reliable transportation. Many patients also feel that this type of therapy is more confidential, as they feel that may be stigmatized walking into a mental health facility or psychiatrist’s office. Finally, telemedicine is a fraction of the cost of traditional therapy, especially if a patient is paying out of pocket for the sessions, since one of the biggest disadvantages associated with this process is that insurance companies rarely agree to pay for it. Videoconferencing has especially been effective in treating symptoms associated with PTSD. Morland et al. (2015), state that telemedicine via video teleconferencing (VTC), offers a number of advantages over traditional treatment approaches when treating PTSD patients, including decreases in transportation costs, travel time, and missed work. It also offers enhanced treatment options for individuals with serious injuries or scheduling difficulties due to work, school or childcare
Wesson, J., & Kupperschmidt, B. (2013). Rural trauma telemedicine. Journal Of Trauma Nursing, 20(4), pp. 199-202. doi:10.1097/JTN.0000000000000012
[20]Charles BL. (2000) Telemedicine can lower costs and improve access. Healthcare Financial Management. 54(4): 66.
Shore, J. H., Brooks, E., Savin, D. M., Manson, S. M., & Libby, A. M. (2007, June). An economic evaluation of telehealth data collection with rural populations. Psychiatic Services, 58(6), 830-835.
The purpose of telemedicine is to remove distance as a barrier to health care. While telehealth is an accepted resource to bridge the gap between local and global health care, integrating telehealth into existing health infrastructures presents a challenge for both governments and policy makers (HRSA, 2011). Today there are policy barriers that prevent the expansion of telehealth, including reimbursement issues raised by Medicare and private payers, state licensure, and liability and privacy concerns.
What is a Telemetry Nurse? A telemetry nurse is responsible for monitoring, recording and interpreting data regarding a patient's vital signs. Based on this information, they provide care, administer medication, and educate patients about their conditions. What Do They Do? Telemetry nurses are RNs with advanced training who deal only with patients who have ongoing health conditions or experience sudden health services, such as those who have heart problems or those who recently had surgery.
Telepsychiatry has been used for many years and is highly regarded as an area where the use of telemedicine has been successful. It has been defined as “The delivery of healthcare and the exchange of healthcare information for purposes of providing psychiatric services across distances” (Woo...
Among the main aims of health care reform and improvement is expanding healthcare access to different populations, which have been subjects to underserving for a long period. These include the poor, the previously uncovered, rural societies, and the minorities, to mention just a few. Great challenges definitely lie ahead, since several individuals start seeking access to the primary healthcare clinicians (Arnaert & Delesie, 2001). Telenursing assures to be a crucial tool to meet such needs. It refers to making use of the telehealth technology in conducting nursing practice and delivering nursing care. Because of the quick telemedicine technology adoption within the healthcare institutions, telenursing emerges as a fresh tool that provokes discussions
Improving health is in the best interest of everyone, including non-health professionals. Health managers need to be constantly looking for ways to improve access to health care, the quality of the care, and cost containment. Often, the biggest barriers to accessing healthcare are cost and location. Lower income individuals just do not have the resources to have optimal healthcare, or cannot take the time away from employment to deal with health issues. One potential solution to help with these problems could be “telehealth.”
Telemedicine is a new comer to the field of medicine and it is the treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology. Telemedicine is carried out in a variety of ways whether it is by smart phone, wireless tools or other forms of telecommunications. Examples of telemedicine include: 1) transmission of medical images 2) care services at the home of the patient 3) Diagnosis at distance 4) education and training of patients. The diversity of practices in what is known as telemedicine raises many questions and one of those questions, which is extremely important, relate to the safety of the practice and the risks involved.
Wade, V. A., Karnon, J. Elshaug, A., & Hiller, J. E. (2010). A systematic review of economic analyses of telehealth services using real time video communication. BMC Health Service Research,
Sarhan Firas, 2009, in her piece of work on the ethical and legal dilemmas facing telemedicine in the modern practice, opines that there is a broad range of privacy issues that come into play when telemedicine is put into practice. Healthcare professionals owe the patients a duty of care by making sure that they maintain the highest level confidentiality when dealing with the clients. However, there are challenges with technology that the practitioners do not have direct control. For example, in the modern computer world, there are numerous cases of cyber related crimes in which criminals hack into the computers of other entities and steal vital information. Much as the organization may not in direct control of such activities. However, the
Sevean, P., Dampier, S., Spadoni, M., Strickland, S., Pilatzke, S., (2008). Patients and families experiences with video telehelath in rural/remote communities in northern canada. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18. 2573-2579.
Teaching and educating the patient about their disease process and how they can assist with controlling or eliminating their symptoms is a great advantage with telenursing. Empowering your patient to get involved in their health care can be very rewarding to a nurse and improve your patient health care.
Technology is truly taking a turn for the worst on mental health. Technology is the future, it’s supposed to be the greatest thing to ever happen. Although technology may be helping the world out, it is hurting the people who use it. Technology is taking over lives and damaging mental health, it is the main cause of mental health issues and it needs to be taken seriously. Technology is not beneficial for mental health because it is causing isolation, depression, and mental illness in children.
Imagine the ability to obtain healthcare services from almost anywhere in the world where you have access to a phone or computer. Now, imagine being able to provide nursing assessments, diagnosis, treatments, and recommendations to your patients from your home to almost anywhere in the world. Lauren Stokowski (2008) noted in her article that one fourth of the United States has rural residents. That number may appear small in comparison to the urban residences; however, rural residents have a tendency to to have “higher poverty rates, larger percentage of elderly, and tend to be in poorer health”. Could telenursing be a solution?