In the modern world, technology is taking over all the fields, and that includes the healthcare sector. Technology is important to the healthcare system in a couple of ways, including providing better care for the patients and attaining health fairness (Jain, 2019). It generally enhances the quality of healthcare in a facility by presenting precise patient reports and ensuring that health providers can understand the patient’s medical history. Healthcare technology entails all the appliances, remedies, vaccines, measures, and structures rationalized to enhance the overall healthcare operations while improving the quality of services rendered and minimizing the costs of operation. Amongst the common healthcare technologies in most healthcare facilities are artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and blockchains used in advertisements. Therefore the paper will focus on health care technology telehealth.
Telehealth refers to the use of digital database and contact technologies such as computers and smartphones to administer the health care system and access healthcare in remote areas. Among the key components of telehealth are; firstly, association tools such as computers, mobile phones, tablets, and so on. These devices play an important role in connecting healthcare providers to patients. The devices enable the hospital to identify and reach out to the wide range of clients through social media platforms where patients can chat with the healthcare providers and even call and chat with them over devices such as personal computers, telephones, and mobile phones.
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Furthermore are the medical peripherals, which include diagnostic devices such as ultrasound machines and stethoscopes (SHERWOOD, 2017). These peripheral devices, when combined with the collaboration devices, enables the health providers to operate from different location while providing high quality services in treatment and diagnosis of illnesses. The peripheral devices are easy to use and can be controlled from one location using one main device to provide services for a wide range of patients.
The other component of telehealth is workflow. It is concerned with the documentation of the various patient profiles. On top of collaboration devices and peripheral devices is the software in charge of the management of the connection between the patients and health care providers in the hospital (Jain, 2019). It ensures that health care facilities are capable of providing secure messaging services, storage of patient records, access to bills and billing codes, and connection to other medical services such as EHRs. The healthcare providers can do all that from multiple locations, just like they would render the services one on one to the patients. Workflow enables the various health care facilities to reach their patients from wherever they are and the goal of providing quality healthcare services during the time of need is met with ease. The patients are saved the task of having to wait for a doctor who might be miles away since the doctor can diagnose him/her from wherever place he or she is.
The last component is cloud-based services, which enable the healthcare providers to cut on the overall cost of operation. Telehealth is an expensive entity to run, and thus the healthcare facilities were losing money into the management of the system, especially for the small scale operators. The incorporation of cloud-based services is so instrumental in improving the healthcare of large populations through its initiative, which lowers the costs of providing healthcare by cutting visits, admissions, and readmissions of patients into the hospitals (Moehr, Schaafsma, Anglin, Pantazi, Grimm & Anglin, 2006). It helps connect the healthcare providers to new and existing patients efficiently while providing adequate healthcare services at affordable prices regardless of the distance between the hospital and the patients or the patients and the doctors. The patients can take bed rests at the comfort of their homes instead of having to be admitted in the hospital facility where they would have to pay for the bed space among other miscellaneous expenses.
One of the main factors contributing to the adoption of telehealth is the growing technology which very pervasive. Among the first hospitals to adopt telehealth into their system were the technologically capable facilities. Those facilities had services such as intensive care units which are information technology-driven and thus led to the adoption of the telehealth programs in such facilities. The effect of technology can be evaluated through the existence of electronic media in hospitals such as electronic personal health records, patient portals, and health applications.
The other factor is the acceptance by the State legislations. The state policies put in same legislations for telehealth and one on one services at the hospital and thus compelled most healthcare facilities, especially the private ones, to adopt the telehealth programs. However, the state also put in regulations for the telehealth services providers requiring them to have a special license which affected the adoption of telehealth programs by hospitals, especially those operating out of their home states. The effect of state legislation can be accessed through the acquisition of special licenses by the various healthcare facilities.
Lastly is the demography. The rural areas inhibited by most people sum up the client profiles of the patients using telehealth. The program has a feature of operating in the remote areas as long as the patients have devices such as phones, tablets, computers, .and so forth, that are bound to connect them with the various healthcare providers (Moehr, Schaafsma, Anglin, Pantazi, Grimm & Anglin, 2006). Most hospitals, especially in the less competitive markets, were compelled to adopt telehealth programs to serve those patients from remote areas. The effect of the rurality can be evaluated through the presence of personal health applications, ownership of mobile phones, and the availability of the internet in remote areas.
References
Jain, N. (2019, January 03). Role of Technology in the Healthcare Sector . Retrieved from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/325608
Moehr JR1, Schaafsma J, Anglin C, Pantazi SV, Grimm NA, Anglin S. (2006). Success factors for telehealth--a case study. International Journal of Medical Information , 755-763.
SHERWOOD, C. H. (2017, April 25). Telehealth a key component in healthcare transformation . Retrieved from MedCity: htt
