Hi friends!!!

In our previous blog we have discussed about Infant Incubator. Please check out for the link given below.

Today we are going to discuss about Telemedicine.

Telemedicine is one of the emerging concepts in the field of healthcare. Therefore it is important for every healthcare professional to know in detail about Telemedicine.

Let’s get into the topic.

WHAT IS TELEMEDICINE?

The Telemedicine is an emerging technology by which healthcare professionals can evaluate, diagnose and treat patients at a distance without being in direct contact with them. The concept of telemedicine is very much useful in case of rural areas and difficult to reach areas where doctors may not be available all the time. Telemedicine uses a telecommunication technology to provide healthcare remotely. Telemedicine has become possible due to internet age which high quality video transmission possible.

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WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF

TELEMEDICINE?

The following are the three important types of telemedicine.

INTERACTIVE MEDICINE

In interactive medicine, the patients and clinician interact in real time using video conference software while maintaining HIPAA compliance. The examples of interactive medicine include Phone calls, online video conference etc.

STORE AND FORWARD

It is also known as asynchronous telemedicine. In store and forward type, there will be a service provider (eg: Testing labs) who stores the patient information and forward it to the doctor present in different location. Eg: A doctor in a rural area can store patient data and can send it to a specialist doctor in city to gain deeper insights about patients illness.

REMOTE PATIENT MONITORING

In remote patient monitoring, patients are provided with some kind of wearable medical devices which monitors & collects patient data and transfers it to the doctor. Eg: Wearable watches or patches which monitor and send data about blood glucose and blood pressure to doctors in different locations.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TELEMEDICINE?

The Telemedicine is an alternative for in house hospital visits. So, telemedicine has many benefits for both patients as well as clinicians.

BENEFITS TO PATIENTS

1. No time and money loss due to travelling.

2. No contact with other infectious patients.

3. Better privacy.

4. Easy access.

BENEFITS TO CLINICIANS

1. Increased revenue.

2. Lesser or no money spend on office space.

3. Chance to cover missed appointments and cancellations.

HIPAA COMPLIANCE

All telemedicine software should be in compliance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The HIPAA compliant is a guideline to protect patient safety. It prevents breach of any personal patient data. While there are some software’s meant for normal communication which is easy for doctors to interact with patients and provide guidance. Eg: Skype. However using such software for healthcare purpose may not provide compliance for HIPAA in protecting patient data.

FEATURES OF TELEMEDICINE SOFTWARE

Many countries now started to provide reimbursement for healthcare service offered via telemedicine software. But in order to receive reimbursement, the details of telemedicine visit shall be documented and submitted to approving authorities.

There are some telemedicine software’s which allow easy documentation of telemedicine visits. These documents can latter be imported and stored to Electronic Health Records.

In some telemedicine software’s, EHR is integrated to facilitate automatic storing and retrieval of details about telemedicine visits.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TELEMEDICINE AND

TELEHEALTH

Telemedicine can be used to provide specific and focused remote clinical services. The services include all kinds of medical, diagnostics and treatments related to a specific illness. Telemedicine is a narrower field whereas Telehealth refers to a broader scope of remote health services beyond doctor-patient relationship. Telehealth provides remote non clinical services. The examples of Telehealth include healthcare education, remote health information services.

Now I hope you have acquired some knowledge about Telemedicine. We will meet again with another valuable topic related to Biomedical Engineering, Medical Device, Healthcare.

NOTE: Dear friends!!!... Please do comment a topic related to Biomedical, so that we can discuss it in future blogs.

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