Vision Document: Telehealth

Telehealth is a project aimed at improving access to quality healthcare in rural areas through the use of information and communication technology. This vision document discusses the problem statement, capabilities, and benefits of the project.

Running head: TELEHEALTH
Vision Document: Telehealth
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Vision Document.......................................................................................................................2
Problem Statement.................................................................................................................2
Capabilities.............................................................................................................................3
Benefits..................................................................................................................................4
References..................................................................................................................................6

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Vision Document
Problem Statement
Telehealth is one of the projects that is being introduced for the core purpose of
improving access to several quality health care within the rural health services or rural public
hospitals (Weinstein, et al., 2014). Each and every health care professional is majorly
responsible for doing treatments to their patients. However, it is being observed that often the
health care professionals are being separated due to the long distances. The long distance
makes it extremely hard for the health care professionals to communicate for delivering the
higher quality health related as well as any other processes like education.
Moreover, the patients have to travel longer distances for completing their treatments.
Due to this complexity, several critical patients could not complete the treatments and hence
it is extremely life threatening for the patients. Higher expenses of travelling are the next
important and significant factor for few patients to not avail such treatments in longer
distances. This particular project of Telehealth was introduced in such a manner that the ICT
or information and communication technology could easily overcome the long distances. The
major objectives of utilizing this project was to improvise the outcomes of patients, driving
higher efficiency and effectiveness in the method, how health care processes and services
could be delivered and this delivery is being supported by the quality health care
professionals in the entire state.
Telehealth is expected for being an extremely convenient, cost effective and real time
alternative for each and every above mentioned problem and a major option to the traditional
method of face to face treatments or health care services to the patients (Kvedar, Coye, &
Everett, 2014). Furthermore, professional advices and education would also be provided to
the patients since it is not necessary always to provide treatments to every patient; many

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times a professional advice I effective for resolving the issues faced by them. The next issue
or problem faced by several significant patients during their treatments is the respective cost
of their treatments. Due to the higher costs of treatments, often the patients are unable to
complete the treatments or is even unable to undertake the professional services or health
advices.
The funding of this specific project of Telehealth is expected to be done by simply
building subsequent links with the project of Telehealth with the urgent health care centres in
the entire rural region. This could be done with the respective emergency department at the
nearest hospital or health care with video conferencing.
Capabilities
The project of Telehealth is being introduced to properly improve the respective
quality of the medical as well as health care treatment. There are some of the major and the
most significant capabilities, which could be quite helpful to the project. The most significant
purpose of this particular project is Telehealth is to help out the patients or the health care
professionals for making the relevant decisions much effective for them. Telehealth is a type
of information system, which could provide professional advices or health related decisions
by simply advancing the goals of the organization (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). This is majorly
because of the fact that the users could easily get the results without any type of issue.
Moreover, this Telehealth could also eradicate the extra costs and expenses incurred for
treatments, travelling and advanced health care professional advices. There are some of the
major and the most significant capabilities of this Telehealth project. The most important as
well as noteworthy capabilities of this project of Telehealth are as follows:
i) Provides Medical Advices: The first and the foremost capability of the Telehealth
project is that it provides higher medical advices to the patients. This is extremely effective

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since the patients of the rural areas could not reach out to their health care services or
professionals for completion of their treatments (Phillips, Vesmarovich, Hauber, Wiggers, &
Egner, Telehealth: reaching out to newly injured spinal cord patients. , 2016). This particular
capability would be quite helpful for the patients for reaching out to the remote locations of
patients.
ii) User Friendly Project: The second important as well as significant capability of
this particular Telehealth project would be that it is extremely user friendly and could be
easily and promptly utilized by every patient without any type of issue or complexity. This is
majorly because the users, who do not comprise of any of the knowledge regarding ICT or
information and communications technology, even those patients would be able to use this
project easily.
iii) Cost Effectiveness: The third significant or noteworthy capability of the
Telehealth project would be that it is extremely cost effective and hence it could be easily
afforded by the patients and they do not need any extra cost for traveling or higher cost
effectiveness. This is majorly because the complete set up of this project is not at all
complicated and complex in structure and thus extra costs incurring is avoided easily.
iv) Time Effectiveness: The next effective and efficient capability of the Telehealth
project is that it is absolutely time effective and saves time to a higher extent.
Benefits
This particular project of Telehealth is also responsible for providing some of the
major and the most significant benefits to help out the people of the rural regions with
advanced as well as user friendly treatments (Vismara, McCormick, Young, Nadhan, &
Monlux, 2013). The most significant benefits or advantages of the Telehealth project are as
follows:

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i) Saving of Time: Since, the patient do not have to travel longer distances for
completing their treatments, this specific project of Telehealth is termed as time effective and
it saves the valuable time of both patients and the health care professionals. The patients do
not have to roam from one place to another for completion of their treatments (Chi &
Demiris, 2015). Rather, the entire set up of Telehealth is so made that the patients do not have
to visit to the health care services. The entire treatment or health care professional advices are
to be provided to these patients with the help of video conferencing. It is also expected to
save lives of the patients to a higher extent; since it is being observed in many cases, patients
die while bringing them to the respective hospitals.
ii) Completely Technology Oriented: The entire project of Telehealth is completely
technology based or technology oriented. Telehealth is expected to be completed as well as
utilized by undertaking the help of information and communications technology or ICT
(Kvedar, Coye, & Everett, 2014). Due to the modernized technology, the patients get a better
chance of completing the work without any type of complexities and issues.
iii) Provides Accuracy: The accuracy of the data or information provided is the next
significant and vital benefit of the Telehealth project. This is one of the core measures of the
effectiveness of this project of Telehealth as it provides reliable as well as accurate solution
without any type of problem. Moreover, the health care professionals involved in this
particular project are highly qualified and talented and hence there is no chance of data fraud
and fake information regarding health advices.
iv) Usefulness: The next important advantage of the Telehealth project for the
patients of rural areas is its usefulness. It is extremely useful and hence could be used without
any type of issues and complexities (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). Hence, Telehealth project

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would be extremely effective as well as efficient in respect or in comparison to the traditional
method of face to face treatments.

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References
Chi, N. C., & Demiris, G. (2015). A systematic review of telehealth tools and interventions to
support family caregivers. Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 21(1), 37-44.
Dorsey, E. R., & Topol, E. J. (2016). State of telehealth. New England Journal of Medicine,
375(2), 154-161.
Kvedar, J., Coye, M. J., & Everett, W. (2014). Connected health: a review of technologies
and strategies to improve patient care with telemedicine and telehealth. Health
Affairs, 33(2) 194-199.
Phillips, V. L., Vesmarovich, S., Hauber, R., Wiggers, E., & Egner, A. (2016). Telehealth:
reaching out to newly injured spinal cord patients. . Public Health Reports.
Vismara, L. A., McCormick, C., Young, G. S., Nadhan, A., & Monlux, K. (2013).
Preliminary findings of a telehealth approach to parent training in autism. . Journal of
Autism and Development Disorders, 43(12), 2953-2969.
Weinstein, R. S., Lopez, A. M., A, J. B., Erps, K. A., Holcomb, M., Barker, G. P., &
Krupinski, E. A. (2014). Telemedicine, telehealth and mobile health applications that
work: opportunities and barriers. The American journal of medicine, 127(3) 183-187.