Telehealth

Noor Tamari NUR 4935

Overview
1) What is Telehealth?

2) Examples of Telehealth
3) Populations who use Telehealth 4) Advantages

5) Disadvantages
6) Ethical/Safety Issues 7) Telehealth and Nursing

What is Telehealth?
Telehealth is the use of technology to provide longdistance health care and education. Tele-Nursing is the practice of nursing over distance using Telecommunication technology.

Tele-medicine is a subcategory of Telehealth that focuses more on curative aspect.

Assess, diagnose, treat

However unlike telemedicine, Telehealth encompasses preventive, promotive, and curative aspects (Maheu et al, 2001).

Example of Telehealth
1) Teleconferencing

2) Home health monitoring

3) Teletranslation 4) Teleburn

5) Telepsychiatry

Population Affected
1) Patients with chronic illnesses
COPD, CHF

2) Low income 3) Elderly

4) Home bound patient

5) Patient who live in remote areas

What are the Advantages?

1) Decreased travel time

2) Cost effective
3) Less Hospitalizations 4) Patient comfort

5) More convenient
6) Improved health outcomes

What are the Disadvantages?

1. A weakening in nurse-patient ties 2. Decreased confidence in healthcare providers 3. Lack of resources

4. Lack of knowledge on how to properly use telehealth equipment

5. Policies/procedures regulating telehealth 6. Confidentiality risk due to increased access to patient records.

Ethical and Safety Issues

1) Nursing Licensure
Nurse Licensure Compact State

2) Practicing out of state

Each state has there own standards and regulations for healthcare providers.

3) Safety and confidentiality

Nurses have a duty to maintain safety and confidentially of patient information.

Summary
1. Telehealth is the use of technology to provide healthcare from a distance. 2. Examples of Telehealth include: TeleBurn, Teleconferencing, Teletranslation, home health monitoring 3. Patients who would benefit from Telehealth include those who live in rural areas, the elderly, patient who suffer from chronic illness, and those who are homebound. 4. Advantages of telehealth include: decreased time, cost effective, and decreased travel time 5. Disadvantages of telehealth include: weakening of nurse-patient ties, confidentiality risk, lack of resources, and lack of knowledge to use technology. 6. There are ethical issues that arise with the practice of Telehealth such as nursing licensure and practicng out-of-state. 7. Nurses have a responsibility to protect patient privacy and ensure patient information remains confidential.

References
Maheu, M. et al (2001) E-Health, Telehealth, and Telemedicine: A Guide to Start Up and Success. New York, NY: Jossey-Bass.

Nurse licensure compact . (2014). Retrieved from https://www.ncsbn.org/nlc.htm

Sarhan, F. (2009) Telemedicine in healthcare 1: exploring its uses, benefits and disadvantages. Nursing Times ; 105: 42