Contemporary Healthcare: Telehealth Benefits and Risks

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of telehealth in contemporary healthcare, exploring its benefits, risks, and the various factors influencing its implementation. The report begins with an introduction to telehealth, defining its scope and significance in modern healthcare. It then delves into the context of telehealth, examining its application in various settings such as emergency care, education, and outpatient services. The core of the report focuses on the benefits, including improved accessibility, specialization, and health promotion, alongside the risks, such as communication barriers, lack of physical examination, and ethical considerations. The report also addresses the influence of legal, political, and social factors on telehealth adoption. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and offering insights into the future of telehealth. References are included to support the analysis.

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 1
USE OF TELEHEALTH IN CONTEMPORARY HEALTH CARE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This is a report to analyze the use of telehealth in contemporary health care. There are
numerous trends in the world of health care in the world today. Telehealth is one of the trends
that is taking shape in the face of health among numerous countries. There are numerous benefits
and risks associated with telehealth and these will be outlined in the report. The influence of
legal and social factors in the use of telehealth is also of importance. Ethical issues and
concerned associated with telehealth will also be fully discussed.

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 3
Contents
Introduction……………………………………….....................................4
Context……………………………………………………........................4
Benefits…………………………………………………………………....4
Accessibility and availability of care……………………….........4
Specialization and coordination in health care…………………..5
Health promotion…………………………………………………6
Risks………………………………………………………………………7
Communication barriers………………………………………….7
Lack of physical examination……………………………………7
Legal, political and social influences…………………………….8
Ethical issues……………………………………………………..9
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………10
References…………………………………………………………………12

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 4
Introduction
The world is changing and use and development of technology is taking place in order to
improve the way things are carried out and make work easier. The health sector is also adapting
to the use of technology in service delivery. Telehealth refers to the use of telecommunication
and technological means in distribution of health related services and information related to
health and well-being (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). It involves passing of electronic information by
physicians to cater the needs of patients and individuals rather than having a face to face
approach.
Context
The modern world is composed of various forms of technology that allows individuals to
work from the comfort of their homes. In a similar manner, telehealth allows individuals and
patients to gain access to health services without having to move about to seek these services
(Govender & Mars, 2017). Digitalization allows people to access these services via use of
phones and computers. For example people may search in the internet about the causes and
pathophysiology of a certain disease and its modes of treatment. Information can be sought from
a known health practitioner via online means and hence there is no need for the patient to travel
to seek health care. The community plays an important role in the use of telehealth. Since
there are norms that govern a certain community living in a particular setting, it is important to
incorporate the community general perspective on telehealth. There might be increased or
decreased use of technology in health depending on the beliefs of the community.
Benefits
Accessibility and availability of care

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 5
There are many benefits associated with telehealth in the world today. One of the benefits
that come along with telemedicine is that people living in rural and remote areas can gain access
to health care (Taylor et al, 2015). Since health care institutions and centers such as hospitals
may not be available in some rural parts of the country and world at large, people living in such
areas may not have the chance to seek medical attention to distant places as transport systems
could be costly and insufficient. Telehealth makes an impact in the lives of such people as they
are able to seek information regarding their health online and even have a virtual appointment
with a physician through videoconferencing (Cimperman, Brenčič & Trkman, 2016). The
information provided by a physician through telehealth is the same as that provided by face to
face communication hence this platform enables saving of time and financial resources incurred
by physical movement to seek health.
Telehealth makes health care services readily available and easy to access whenever in
need. In health care centers for example, the number of sick people seeking health care might be
large hence the need to wait for long in queues so as to be attended to by the physician. This is in
contrast to telehealth whereby the care provider is always available to answer your queries as
there are many online platforms that provide access to health care. Telehealth can be quite
beneficial to individuals with limited morbidity and time as the physician might be a video call
away (Moore et al, 2017). Hospitals are increasingly adapting to the use of technology in health
care provision. Many hospitals nowadays for example have established online portals for their
patients to access health care in an attempt to reduce congestion in hospitals. In these portals, a
patient seeking health care can log into the portal and is able to communicate with his or her
physician, request prescription refills, review certain results of tests and book for appointments.
Specialization and coordination

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 6
The introduction of telemedicine has enabled access to various specialists in the field of
need. Patients and health care seekers can access care targeting their conditions without having
to be referred to other doctors for further treatment. There is an increase in the number of
medical specialists using telehealth to address key issues relating to their area of specialization
by providing online platforms and therefore enabling patients to gain access to this information
(Park et al, 2018). Telehealth has also helped improve coordination among health care teams and
patients. The use of electronic data involving information of patients has helped organize
information in health centers and therefore avoid confusion. Medical files and information
concerning a certain patient is as simple as a click away in the computers and therefore time is
saved as opposed to the manual record system that may be tedious and time consuming.
Health promotion
Telehealth is increasingly becoming an aid in health promotion and awareness. Health
care seekers gain access to a lot of information online that can enable them provide self-care and
prevent disease occurrence. Because the physician in telemedicine is not physically present to
offer treatment and care to the patient, they impact health in patients by providing useful
information on self-management and care (Suess et al, 2016). The patient therefore seeks to
utilize the information provided in practice hence enabling recovery and health promotion. For
example the physician may offer information regarding diet and nutrition. The health seeker then
goes an extra mile to change their diet as required hence promoting their own health. Knowledge
about prevention of certain diseases may be provided in the platform hence enhancing patient
safety. A patient suffering from myocardial infarction for example will be advised on the risk
factors associated with recurrence of the condition such as smoking, physical inactivity and
many other significant factors. The patient will act on changing these behaviors in order to

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 7
prevent this disease from occurring again. Telehealth therefore enables primary as well as
intensive health care provision.
Risks
Communication barriers
As much as there are many benefits associated with telehealth, there are a set of risks and
drawbacks as well affecting this health trend. One of the main draw backs of telehealth is the fact
that treatment may not always be coordinated by your physician (Tuckson, Edmunds &
Hodgkins, 2017). Since telehealth involves a lot of players including IT specialists in
transmission of information, the patient cannot always have the surety that the information
relayed is from their regular health practitioner. The lack of face to face communication may
hinder patient to physician trust and the patient may not feel comfortable to share some
information regarding their health. The involvement of many physicians in the online platform
relaying information may therefore end up in contradictory information hence the care seeker
may not know what to do. The assurance of a qualified medical practitioner may be also wanting
as anybody can relay information relating to health care in online platforms.
Another risk associated with use of telehealth in care provision is that essential medical
history relating to the patient’s condition may not be captured. Since there isn’t a person to
person interaction between the patient and the physician, past medical and family histories of the
patient may not be put into consideration. According to Yin et al (2016), this can lead to poor
diagnosis and wrong medication which is quite dangerous for the patient’s well-being. Self-
diagnosis from researching symptoms from the internet can also lead to the wrong medication
plan. Since the patient does not have enough medical knowledge concerning pathophysiology of

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 8
a disease, looking for answers via online means can lead to the wrong diagnosis and severe
implications towards their health.
Lack of physical examination
Since telehealth focuses on virtual medical visits rather than a physical presence, there is
no clinical physical examination and evaluation of the patient by the physician (Lee et al, 2015).
This has its repercussions in that full assessment of the patient is not possible hence tampering
with accuracy of a diagnosis. Physical examination is an important step for providing accurate
diagnosis of a condition and therefore telehealth does not incorporate this. There are some
conditions such as acne which would really rely on physical examination of the patient rather
than history for diagnosis and treatment and therefore the need for a person to person physical
interaction. The telecommunication platform also does not include the patients’ involvement in
decision making about their health and treatment hence does not provide a comprehensive
patient centered care.
Legal, political and social influences
There are various political and legal factors that influence the use of telehealth in medical
care. The government’s involvement in care provision is of essence as it ensures provision of
services in accordance with the stipulated governing laws and regulations (Dalmau, 2015).
The law sets a number of rules that health care providers using technology in health delivery
must adhere to. The practitioners’ that have adopted this telecommunication system for example
are required to be certified and registered by the government as true physicians. The law requires
the individual health providers to be licensed by the practitioners’ board of practice. State

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 9
policies also require that out of state care providers to have special licenses to enable them
operate their services within the country.
Since telehealth care services are similar to any other medical service, private
payers are required by law to pay for telehealth services as much extent as face to face
services offered in hospitals. This has greatly contributed to the increased use of telehealth in
care provision as health practitioners receive returns similar to those of physically attending to a
patient. There are a number of situations where government involvement in reimbursing services
offered via telehealth means. Government payers are involved in funding whereby the telehealth
services are provided to underprivileged and remote areas where there is limited medical
infrastructure and access to care provision (Lindgren et al, 2016).
Political factors involve a set of players such as political actors, legislation and
standardization of services that influence the use of telehealth services. Standardization ensures
that the services provided are of high quality and that the patients are satisfied in the manner that
the services were provided (Winegard et al, 2017). Since there a lot of concerns regarding the
liability of use of telemedicine, there are a set of civil, penal and disciplinary actions put in place
to ensure that care is provided in the most professional and harmless manner.
A wide range of social factors come into play whenever telehealth is involved. People
who are of a lower social class tend to avoid the costs associated with the use of telehealth and
may prefer physical attendance to a government hospital where some costs are cut off
(Greenhalgh et al, 2015). Poverty therefore has a negative impact on telehealth use as people
cannot afford gadgets and internet required to access these services. Culture has a major impact
on the use of telehealth as well. People living in rural areas tend to seek health care from health

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 10
practitioners who understand and relate to their cultural backgrounds hence may not seek
telehealth services.
Ethical issues
Just like any other medical practice, there is a wide range of ethical issues involved in the
use of telehealth care provision. Consent in medical care is an important part of ethics and
conduct of medical practitioners. As stated by (Guttmann-Bauman et al, 2018) It refers to
patient’s right to access and understand medical information. Consent can either be implied or
informed. Informed consent is of essence in medical practice as it ensures that the patient has a
clear understanding of information relating to their health including any medical procedures that
are scheduled. In telehealth, there is a limitation of application of informed consent as health care
is provided on online platforms rather than physical attendance by the patient. Since informed
consent is a written acceptance given by the patient to the physician as an evidence of
understanding information provided, it is difficult for such to be done if the patient is not
physically present as the case of telehealth.
The most commonly form of consent applied in these platforms is implied, whereby the
physicians assumes that the patient has understood certain details and given the go ahead for
treatment by seeking health care. This has dire consequences as far as ethics are concerned since
treatment could go wrong and some complications can arise that the patient wasn’t fully aware of
when seeking the care service. The physician in such a case is liable to be sued. Confidentiality
is another important aspect of ethical concerns in health care. It refers to the aspect of the
physician not disclosing any information related to the patient to anyone else. In telehealth,
confidentiality is liable to breach because so many people are involved in the transmission of
information to online platforms (Keogh et al, 2016). For example the IT experts of a certain

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 11
medical care service may gain access to the patient’s information in the process of transmitting
the information to the physician.
Conclusion
In conclusion, telemedicine is proving to be an effective change that the world of health
care provision is embracing. Despite the drawbacks associated with the establishment of
telehealth, there are many significant implications that are making more countries in the world
opt for this care delivery system as opposed to the traditional physical appointment of patients by
physicians. Various state policies and laws are being added so as to monitor telehealth as people
seek to understand it better. Better technology has been invented to suit the needs of health care
and improve health outcomes (Pittman et al, 2016). There is however still progress in
discovering unanswered solutions as far as telehealth is concerned.

Use of telehealth in contemporary health care 12
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