Impact of Telemedicine on Healthcare Administration.

Running head: IMPACT OF TELEMEDICINE ON HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION
IMPACT OF TELEMEDICINE ON HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION
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IMPACT OF TELEMEDICINE ON HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION1
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Introduction
Telemedicine is an effective way that supports to alleviate the congestion of hospitals
and improves the utilisation of medical responses. Over the decade, the healthcare industry
has grown immensely due to the convenience and ease offered by the modern and advanced
technologies. However, there persists an issue related to availability and opportuneness of
services for the medical providers and patients. The advancement of SaasS-based solution has
enabled the healthcare organisations to reduce time in travelling and increase the efficiency
level. Thus, it had resulted in various video products, which support collaboration and
conferencing needs (Doolittle & Spaulding, 2017). The features and functionality in a care
episode are similar and is widely used. Despite the change made in the Client Management
System (CMS) in accepting and reimbursing of telemedicine incidents, however,
reimbursement is limited in nature. In some of the organisations, it can be seen that
telemedicine reimbursements are not following a sustainable model. The challenges of
telemedicine prevent the technology to be accessible to patients and healthcare professionals.
The purpose of this section is to critically evaluate the previous and existing studies
conducted by other authors in order to gain an in-depth knowledge of the topic and form a
foundation for conducting the study on a further basis.
Impact of telemedicine on the healthcare sector
According to Wade et al., (2017), telemedicine is the usage of telecommunication
expertise, for example, phones and computers in order to offer clinical services to patients
that are situated far away using long distance. With the help of mails, applications, phone
calls and video chats, the healthcare staffs are able to diagnosis and treat patients without in-
patient visit or travelling. In addition to linking patients with medical providers, it also offers

IMPACT OF TELEMEDICINE ON HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION2
a method for healthcare specialists to refer with other specialists and physicians in a critical
case of a patient without the need of leaving the medical settings. As per the opinion of Lilly
et al., (2017), telemedicine has been used for more than a decade in some way or another;
however, with the advancement in the technological field, the telemedicine has begun to
change in the area of healthcare delivery system. As argued by Boxer and Ellimoottil (2019),
telemedicine has supported the providers to effectively involve with the patients; thus,
offering quick and convenient solutions for better healthcare experience. As per the American
Telemedicine Association, there are more than 15 million people had remotely acknowledged
medical care in the year 2015 (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). The patients can show their vital stats
include blood pressure and heart rate in a quick manner with the use of new technologies to
the doctor, and the doctor will able to deliver care for chronic conditions. In addition to this,
telemedicine help in connecting with patients, utilising to connect with doctors in giving
experts and consultations. Due to high internet speed and updated technology, telemedicine
help in reaching around the globe in remote areas. As commented by Nadar et al., (2019),
telemedicine has been able to give practice in a new way. For example, a Virtual Care Centre
is available in Mercy Health Systems where specialists supervise the Intensive Care Units
(ICUs) all the time. The healthcare system has been reported to involve a decrease of 35% in
the length of stay and approximately 30% less deaths as compared to others. As stated by
Law et al., (2019), the fast-growing field of the healthcare sector hold various promising
aspects in solving the challenges faced by both healthcare professionals and patients. It offers
appropriate and easy-to-access care, which, is considered to be the original goal of
telemedicine. With this technology, even small hospitals located in the countryside areas are
able to be specialised and the support of intensive care from specialists located in other areas.
A US Federal law, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that

IMPACT OF TELEMEDICINE ON HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION3
sets the standards for privacy and protection of patients’ personal details (Colorafi & Bailey,
2016).
For this reason, the use of HIPAA-compliant, secure and encrypted telemedicine
software can be used for transmission of sensitive data to patients or other healthcare
providers. It helps the stakeholders to reduce the cost of healthcare and save money. As per
the study of Serwe et al., (2017), non-urgent and unnecessary ER visit or check-ups for
diagnosing purpose of simple disorders such as rashes, cold and cough, common flu which
can be eliminated using telemedicine thus, reducing the transportation expenses and cost of
an in-person visit. As per the report of the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), there
are 30 specialists for every 100,000 patients in the rural regions, and thus, the patients
residing on those areas had to travel long distances for accessing the specialists (Iglehart,
2018). With the usage of telemedicine, access to experts improves and widens the population
of the patient for a specialist. Telehealth is an emerging field in healthcare that is considered
as a critical component in resolving the crisis solution. It holds significance as it affects the
issues of the modern healthcare system. Giani and Laffel (2016) opined that the challenging
matters include access to care cost-effective delivery, and distribution of providers is limited
in nature. Therefore, telehealth can change the paradigm of care and allow in improving
access and health outcomes. As stated by Frontino et al., (2016), telehealth increases the
accessibility of healthcare by offering clinical services, emergency and intensive care to
remote patients. It improves the health outcome by diagnosis and treating the patient at an
early basis; thus, reducing the need for costly treatment, it supports ICU care by reducing
complications, mortality rate and hospital stay. In addition to this, it assists in addressing
misdistribution and shortage of healthcare professionals, supporting patients and families,
supporting clinical education programs, improves organisational productivity and
environment as well. According to Paul (2017), telemedicine involves direct-to-consumer