Telemedicine and Telehealth

Healthcare has advanced in applying technological trends that allow providers to circulate healthcare materials such as advice and probable diagnosis using technology. This trend allows healthcare providers to work remotely and deliver their services without considering the distance barrier. The articles provided have important insight into telemedicine, which previously would have seemed impossible considering the difficulties of administering healthcare remotely. However, an interesting observation was the prevalence of telemedicine in many U.S. states and disciplines, except surgery, revealing that many institutions are embracing the trend by incorporating it into their organizations. Telemedicine has its advantages and challenges, including operational and ethical defects, which healthcare providers should consider if they are to incorporate it into their operations.

Telemedicine has enhanced inter-professional collaboration within healthcare and promoted equal access to healthcare. In its foundation, telemedicine would enable people in rural areas to access healthcare, but it has recently increased usage in urban hospitals. Healthcare organizations have improved their facilities through telemedicine and increased the number of patients treated annually. For instance, Mercy Health began using this trend in 2006 and treated over 260,000 patients until 2013 (Telemedicine: Vast Potential, Increased Efficiency, 2013). Additionally, doctors increased the number of ICU patients they treated and increased the life expectancy of patients by over 20% (Telemedicine: Vast Potential, Increased Efficiency, 2013). Inter-professional collaboration has also been enhanced through telemedicine, where various disciplines could be engaged during a medical check-up to diagnose a health issue accurately. In addition, various branches of telemedicine are cheap to administer since they reduce admission and traveling costs that patients may incur. Patients also have an easier time scheduling appointment with their physicians than booking physical appointments and making queues before receiving medical assistance. The notable disadvantage of telemedicine is the financial strain it may place on patients and health organizations when complex medical procedures should take place. For instance, telesurgery can be administered technologically, but it would require expensive robotics technology. Therefore, the advantages of telemedicine include ease of accessing healthcare, while the cons include financial strains placed on patients and doctors to acquire expensive robotics machinery.

Telemedicine has increased in popularity and may influence the future of medicine amidst several ethical concerns. After the outbreak of COVID-19, healthcare providers could administer care, including making diagnoses and monitoring patients' vitals remotely, as facilitated by technology (Telemedicine: Vast Potential, Increased Efficiency, 2013). However, ethical issues involving information confidentiality and discussions between physicians and their patients have been identified (Chaet et al., 2017). Additionally, process analysts have raised concerns about the possible interruption between patients and their healthcare providers during medication administration. During face-to-face interactions, there is a minimal possibility for outside sources to interfere with such interactions, which may be altered when interactions shift to purely online (Chaet et al., 2017). Where medical systems are not stable enough, telemedicine could cause a breach of information that could harm patients or their healthcare providers. Therefore, though telemedicine is popular, especially after being used after the COVID-19 outbreak, institutions that choose to adopt it fully may need to address ethical concerns about information confidentiality.

Telemedicine has been a technological trend in medical practice, with some advantages and disadvantages relating to operational and ethical practice. Through it, medicine can reach rural areas, reducing transportation and admission expenses for patients. The disadvantages include the expenses hospitals, and patients may incur if they want to access complex healthcare and ethical issues hospitals may not meet if client information is exposed.
 References

Telemedicine: Vast Potential, Increased Efficiency (2013, November 5). https://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/11/05/telemedicine-vast-potential-increased-efficiency

Chaet, D., Clearfield, R., Sabin, J. E., & Skimming, K. (2017). Ethical practice in Telehealth and Telemedicine. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 32(10), 1136–1140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-017-4082-2