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Healthcare in the 21st Century: Understanding the Benefits of Telehealth and Telemedicine
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Feb 26, 2015 - 9:47:18 AM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Heathcare in the 21st century is about to leapfrog our best expectations. Distributed healthcare is a hot topic these days, thanks to innovative companies like Medibid and Theranos. Medibid is a company that helps patients negotiate healthcare costs, sometimes up to 50 percent less than what insurance companies can negotiate for the same procedure. And, doctors and hospitals get paid right away, instead of having to wait months.

This is because Medibid is a "direct-to-consumer" network, and patients pay cash in exchange for the discounted rate. Everyone is happy.

Theranos is a revolutionary company that's changing diagnostics - specifically, blood testing. Its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, has devised a way to run multiple tests from a few drops of blood. But, that's not the amazing part. Testing costs up to 90 percent less than traditional testing - meaning diagnostics will cost you between $1 and $5 for most tests, and can be rerun an unlimited number of times.

These kinds of technologies fit within a wider framework of a healthcare revolution, in which healthcare is decentralized - taken out of the doctors' offices and hospitals.

Telehealth

Telehealth refers to diagnosis, management, education, and treatment of illness, as well as education and preventative measures, that are delivered remotely. The areas include dentistry, counseling, physical and occupational health, home health, chronic disease management, disaster management, and consumer and professional education.

These telehealth services, for example, help people live healthier lives in their homes, giving them direct-line access to doctors or hospitals, if needed. But, when not needed, individuals can access health information on the Internet, have phone consults with medical professionals, and administer self-care from home.

The uniting characteristic among all telehealth services is the ability to transmit health information via various communication technologies. These technologies will help facilitate self-management, diagnosis, and treatment.

But, consultation can also be made available in situations where individuals require a doctor or some other medical professional. Examples of telehealth include live video streams, store and forward transmissions of recorded health history, remote patient monitoring, which is accomplished through information gathering using medical-grade diagnostic hardware, and mobile health care, using cell phones, tablet computers, and PDAs.

Applications that can help monitor basic vitals, educate individuals about health and fitness, and make suggestions while tracking health markers over time will lead the way toward a more health-conscious public.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is sometimes used interchangeably with telehealth, and they are very similar. Telemedicine refers more so to actual application of protocols for specific or general health issues.

For example, an individual who is trying to lose weight might use telehealth services to learn about various diets and supplements than could assist with weight loss. However, the telemedicine approach would be the consultation with a doctor, mail-order drugs or supplements, a consultation with a dietician, or delivery of some other service by a medical professional.

As technology progresses, direct-to-consumer services will also become part of the telemedicine trend.

For example, Theranos' technology is being installed in Walgreens around the country. The ability of the company to gather and assess health status is truly amazing. Patients would no longer need the advice or a prescription from a doctor to get a blood test done.

Illnesses could be found earlier, and treatments could be uncomplicated if the disease or illness is still in the early stages. In many cases, individuals could prevent disease before it ever happens.

The mastermind behind the company, Elizabeth Holmes, was motivated by a personal tragedy to create better diagnostics. The result was a diagnostics company that charges less than 50 percent of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates.

That's huge. It also means that almost anyone can walk into a Walgreens and have important diagnostics run, with or without a doctor's prescription. The information can then be used to make faster health decisions - people have unfettered access to their health information and, when combined with the information freely available on the Internet, diagnosis and treatment can happen much more quickly than if the person had to wait for a doctor.

Of course, this model threatens the establishment, but it shouldn't. People still need medical professionals, and telehealth and telemedicine aren't the elimination of the medical profession. It's the next evolution of it.

Instead of shying away from remote medical diagnosis, education, and treatment, doctors and hospitals need to embrace. This is the wave of the future, powered by strong demand for transparency in health care.

Melanie M. Hynes, RN, BN, VP of Innovation and Development - myNEXUS - Melanie has more than ten years of healthcare experience spanning the continuum from critical care to home care. Melanie has both a clinical and management background with expertise ranging from telehealth, disease management, clinical education and program development to readmission reduction, acute care partnerships, revenue generation, operations and sales. She enjoys sharing her ideas and industry insights online.

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