3 CURRENT & FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF WIRELESS NETWORKING IN HEALTHCARE DOMAIN
• Telemedicine
• Glowcaps
• 3M Littmann Stethoscopes
• Sense4baby
• Life Touch Patient Surveillance system
• Ford In-Car Health and Wellness
(under development)
Among the numerous and widespread applications in this domain, a few key applications have been considered to detail along with some current scenarios from Chinese and Indian markets in the particu-lar field of telemedicine
3.1 TELEMEDICINE
According to American Telemedicine Association, telemedicine is defined as; the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient’s clinical health status. Telemedicine includes a growing variety of applications and services using two-way video, email, smart phones, wireless tools and other forms of telecommunications technology.
(Reference: http://www.americantelemed.org/about-telemedicine/what-is-telemedicine)
The process of implementing telemedicine can be either synchronous or asynchronous in man-ner. When conducted in synchronous manner, both the doctor and the patient are present at the same instant on either side whereas asynchronous mode just requires the information to the transmitted by either side and results or findings can be discussed at a later stage. This does not require either persons or groups on either side to be present at the same instant.
Telemedicine is mainly categorized as store-and-forward; remote monitoring and real-time interac-tive services. It can be subclassified into four main categories namely: teleconsultation, tele-expertise, telecare, and telemonitoring.
3.1.1 Teleconsultation
This enables the patient to have a remote consultation with thei...
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...ed or transferred to an inpatient unit or send home if the condition improves.
The Lifetouch Patient Surveillance system developed by Isansys which consists of a wearable ECG monitor by which the heart rate variations can be analyzed from a remote location can be used in such scenarios wherein it is advisable to monitor the person for a couple more of days after being dis-charged.
3.7 FORD IN-CAR HEALTH AND WELLNESS(under development)
This is a technology under development by Ford corporation.
This device can be fixed onto the driver’s seat which monitors the vitals like diabetics, asthma or allergies of the person and sends it via Bluetooth to the driver’s mobile to create an alert and in turn transmitting it to the physician’s office.
In case of any discrepancies the physician’s office can dispatch personnel to transport the patient to the hospital.
...health of a patient and a follow up check at the GP’s may be required.
Cardiac monitoring has been available since the early 1960s (Henriques-Forsythe, Ivonye, Jamched, Kamuguisha, Olejeme & Onwuanyi, 2009). George, Walsh-Irwin, Queen, Vander Heuvel, Hawkins, & Roberts (2015) explain, “Remote telemetry monitoring is the monitoring of cardiac rhythms of acute care inpatients from a central locate by personnel who are not directly involved with patient care” (p. 11). Researchers and authors published a multitude of articles, best practices, and standards for hospital monitoring (Drew, 2004, Funk, 2010). A basic internet query reveals injuries and deaths related to remote telemetry monitoring. Guidelines, best practices, and research provide the best evidence in the delivery of safe quality care
[20]Charles BL. (2000) Telemedicine can lower costs and improve access. Healthcare Financial Management. 54(4): 66.
Telehealth is the monitoring via remote exchange of physiological data between a patient at home and health care professionals at hospitals or clinics to assist with diagnosis and treatment. As our society ages and health care costs increase, government and private insurance payers are seeking technological interventions. Technological solutions may provide high quality healthcare services at a distance, utilize professional resources more effectively, and enable elderly and ill patients to remain in their own homes. Patients may experience decreased hospitalization and urgent care settings, and out of home care may not be required as the patient is monitored at home. However, no study has been able to prove telehealth benefits conclusively. This change in health care delivery presents new ethical concerns, and new relationship boundaries between health care professionals, patients, and family members. This paper will discuss telehealth benefits in specific patient populations, costs benefits of using telehealth, and concerns of using telehealth.
Organizational barrier - To convince the panel of directors in the health care organization, to fund for Telehealth technologies (as not every patient pays for them, nor every physician in the hospital utilise them) and to show them positive benefits from it is a major challenge. Implementation of telehealth infrastructure can be costly, time consuming and complicated initially.
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.
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. Telemetry nurses use various types of medical technology to monitor patients' vitals such as blood pressure, heart activity, breathing patterns and blood oxygen saturation. They record and interpret this data to assess their patient's recovery rates. They also share this information with physicians and other health care experts to determine treatment methods. Telemetry nurses must meticulously track all medications in order to avoid any negative drug interactions. Telemetry nurses are involved at the beginning of care when they assist doctors with procedures and diagnostics. They oversee patients until the end of care when they educate them how to avoid potential relapses or problems after they are released.
... Anglin, S. (2006). Success factors for telehealth—a case study. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 75(10), 755-763.
XIAO-YING, Z., & PEIYING, Z. (2016). Telemedicine in clinical setting. Experimental & Therapeutic Medicine, 12(4), 2405-2407.
Telenursing is the application of information and telecommunications technology to offer the nursing or healthcare services to the patients. The most advanced field of telehealth is in household telenursing healthcare. Telenursing devices like computers, telephones and videophones enable nurses to increase successfully the patient numbers seen daily while reducing the entire workload (Arnaert & Delesie, 2001). Nurses are capable of doing this without having to leave the doctor’s office or hospital hence saving a considerable amount of
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.
...ward understanding the cost benefit of telemedicine applications. Hospital Topics: Research and Perspectives on Healthcare
Telemedicine can be as simple as a telephone conversation among two doctors at different locations or as complex as using satellite technology to provide a consultation between a doctor and a patient that are located in different countries.
Only then can the patient be transferred or discharged from the care of the attending doctor or nurse, until that is completed the patient is the treating doctor or nurse’s responsibility. The health professional has to remember their
Commonly throughout most countries of the world, citizens of the society at large establish the system for Emergency Medical Services. In the case that the public is not willing or capable of summoning such a service, the country often finds other emergency services, businesses, or the government and authorities who act to employ a system. In other parts of the world, the emergency medical service additionally takes on the role of transporting patients from one medical facility to an alternative one. This occurs with some frequency because once a patient is analyzed and provided care at the immediate hospital; it may be more appropriate for a variety of reasons the patient needs to move to another facility. As one can see, the relat...