Telehealth Namita
Liberty University
NURS 521-D01 LUO
The implementation of Tele Health System in any facility enables flexible as well as
convenient service. Through adequate training, it is possible to make these implementation and
advance medical technology further. Telehealth helps in improving medical service through use
of remote technology. It helps in providing extensive care for the chronic diseases at the
convenient of home with collaboration among healthcare teams. With current circumstances of
COVID 19 situation, Telehealth can provide a lot more flexibility and patient oriented services
via use of telecommunications. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the need assessment
of telehealth technology, its benefits in modern days, health information technology policies
around it, and ethical consideration of its usage. This paper will also include the model used for
explaining the execution of Telehealth in the healthcare facility.
Telehealth Programs
Telehealth is the easiest mode of communication in healthcare. With advancement in
technology in modern days, Telehealth makes it possible to provide quality healthcare to the
people who do not have easiest health care accessibility. Telehealth is a type of healthcare that is
provided to patients using telecommunication and information technology such as the radio,
television, and internet (including social media sites, video chats, online messaging, and more).
Telehealth is also called telemedicine, eHealth, or mHealth (Nelson and Staggers, 2018). With
the advancement in medical technology, the author of this paper believes that telehealth program
should be widely practiced. The benefit of telehealth is phenomenal. United States Army utilized
the telehealth program in 1992 and included the service in cardiology, dermatology, infectious
disease, neurosurgery, pain management, and orthopedic surgery. United States Army telehealth
, program is considered as the most successful telehealth program (Nelson and Staggers, 2018).
Likewise, United States Department of Veterans Affairs implemented the telehealth program
through a home health programs which was found to reduce long term care bed days and
inpatient hospital readmissions and decrease costs. The participants were very satisfied (Nelson
and Staggers, 2018).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), telemedicine and telehealth are
synonymous and used interchangeably. Telemedicine is defined as “the delivery of healthcare
services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and
communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and
prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of
health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their
communities” (Telemedicine - who).
Implementation
Health care industry should adapt the complete form of technology. The digital evolution
in telehealth can play a vital role in providing quality healthcare in all areas. Current COVID-19
pandemic situation has taught us all Americans a huge lesson. Not being able to have a medical
care and the fear of going to the doctor office have encourages us to use telehealth widely. In my
opinion, the first step for telehealth implementation would be to understand the need of
telehealth, and its positive and negative aspects. After understanding and pointing out all the
aspects, the next step should be to bring in the executive team’s agreements. They will help
further by supervising the project goals, budgeting, and monitoring its progress as well as growth
(Nelson and Staggers, 2018). Identifying the work environment and the staff availability to
implement are also the important factors. Preparation of user-friendly technology, easy access for
all employees, and technical support availability should be planned and implemented. The final
step should be made on how to implement, manage, and support these technologies. First