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My Peers’ paper, provided below, to the original assignment was: What is the difference between Telehealth and Telemedicine? Explore the difference between telemedicine and telehealth and address when it is appropriate to use each of these by addressing the benefits and limitations of each.
My assignment on this paper is Peer Responses:
Length: A minimum of 150 words per post, not including references
See Peer Post below
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When discussing the topics of telemedicine and telehealth, many health professionals and health resources would synonymously define the two as being interchangeable terms. Nevertheless, each term contains individual connotations that must be further explored. Telehealth tends to be the more general term used to describe the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration whereas telemedicine refers to remote clinical services (What is telehealth?, 2019). Furthermore, telemedicine tends to refer to clinical services provided mostly by physicians and practitioners whereas telehealth is a more general term including non-clinical services, health communication and administrative purposes by all health care professionals (What is telehealth?, 2019).
The benefits of telemedicine include the ability to provide assessment, diagnosis and treatment from a distance in a cost-effective way (Telemedicine, n.d.). Additionally, the benefits of telehealth involve the ability to include a variety of health professionals such as nurses, pharmacists, and others (WHO, 2010, p. 9). This aspect is vital due to the inherent need for interprofessional contribution that is needed in order to provide health care to patients, as physicians cannot provide adequate car without these additional adjuncts. The appropriate use of both telemedicine and telehealth is when they intertwined and complement the other. For example, in one of the hospitals I have worked at, there is no neurologist present on staff. Consequently, we utilize the use of a tele-neuro machine which allows a neurologist to video call and assess a patient who may be having a stroke. This is an example of telemedicine in that the neurologist independently is providing diagnosis and treatment from a remote location. However, telehealth is also at play in this situation in that the neurologist must rely on the hospital staff (nurse, charge nurse, lab, pharmacy, etc.) to conduct further assessments and carry out his ordered treatment. As a result, the two terms must never be solely isolated but rather have their complementary facets explored.
References:
Telemedicine. N.d. Retrieved from https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/benefits/telemedicine/index.html
What is telehealth? How is telehealth different from telemedicine? (2019). Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-telehealth-how-telehealth-different-telemedicine
World Health Organization. (2010). Telemedicine: Opportunities and developments in member states. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO Press.
