What is Telemedicine / Telehealth?

As defined by the American Telemedicine Association, “Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patients’ health status.” Closely associated with telemedicine is the term telehealth, which refers to a broader range of services that includes telemedicine and other remotely provided services such as clinical education programs, patient support and education, health information exchange, clinical decision support, pharmacy and laboratory systems, and disaster response support.

Telemedicine services are delivered in three primary ways:

• Live Interactive telemedicine services provide real-time interactions between the patient and provider. A live interactive video conference consultation is one in which the provider and the patient are present at the same time, but not in the same location.
• Store-and-forward telemedicine involves the electronic transmission of digital images or pre-recorded videos between a primary care provider at one location and a medical specialist at another location. Unlike live interactive telemedicine services, store and forward services do not require the presence of both parties at the same time.
• Remote home monitoring enables medical professionals to monitor a patient remotely using various technological devices. This method is primarily used for managing chronic diseases or specific conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes mellitus, or asthma.

Benefits

Telemedicine has the ability to significantly impact the landscape of healthcare. The benefits of implementing telemedicine are abundant. It has the capacity to improve access to specialty services, improve patient outcomes, reduce healthcare costs, improve follow-up care and expand access to clinical education programs.
Through the use of telemedicine we are able to address some of the most challenging problems of our current healthcare system, such as access to quality care, cost-effective delivery, and distribution of limited providers. Telemedicine can change the current model of care by improving health outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

• Researchers have found that the cost of providing telestroke treatment was about $2,500 per quality-adjusted life year. That figure falls well below the standard of $50,000 that generally is considered the cut-off point for cost-effectiveness (Gandey, Medscape Medical News).
• A recent study compared the effects of a Telehealth Monitoring Program with changes observed in a control group. They found that the telehealth program was associated with spending reductions of 7.7% to 13.3%, or between $312 and $542 per beneficiary per quarter (Health Affairs, CMIO).
• In a 2007 study conducted by the Center for Information Technology Leadership, it was estimated that the full deployment of telemedicine nationally would create a savings of $4.2 billion annually.
• Research has shown that telemedicine supported Intensive Care Units has reduced mortality rates by 15-30 % and substantially reduced complications and length of stay (Visicu, 2008).
• The Journal of the American Medical Association found that the ICU patient mortality rate at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, dropped from 10.7% to 8.6% after the hospital implemented a telemedicine program.