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The use of information and communication technologies has long changed the way the healthcare is delivered. Telehealth is one of the inventions that contributed into such changes. Basically, telehealth is the delivery of such services as health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis, consultation, education, and therapy (Hebda & Czar, 2009, p. 430) through the use of telecommunication technologies. Telehealth can be used for clinical, administrative, and educational purposes, but, along with numerous advantages, it has disadvantages as well.
Clinical use of telehealth consists in its enabling healthcare professionals transmit medical data and even medical images for diagnosing the patients distantly. Administrative use of this invention consists in carrying out presentations and meetings among different groups of people involved in healthcare. Lastly, its use in education is also widespread; it allows delivering medical and patient education live distantly through videoconferencing.
Telehealth has a number of advantages. Firstly, it is irreplaceable in case of emergency. Secondly, it allows treating the patients distantly, which is especially beneficial for the patients who live in remote areas and cannot always be visited by healthcare professionals (Darkins & Cary, 2000). Finally, it allows surgeons performing complicated operations collectively when there is such a need.
However, telehealth also has several disadvantages. Firstly, it requires Internet connection to be fast and stable, which is not always possible. And secondly, in case with home telehealth, the patients who wish to be treated distantly need to acquire special equipment, which is quite costly and not accessible to everyone.
Thus, telehealth has significantly improved the quality of the healthcare delivered, but it has both positive and negative aspects. Despite this, this invention can still be regarded as beneficial for the healthcare.
Reference List
Darkins, A.W. & Cary, M.A. (2000). Telemedicine and telehealth: Principles, policies, performance, and pitfalls. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Hebda, T. & Czar, P. (2009). Handbook of Informatics for Nurses & Healthcare Professionals. London: Pearson Prentice Hall.
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