Telehealth and Home Monitoring Equipment Term Paper

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Telehealth and Home Monitoring Equipment

This is a paper that outlines the features of telehealth products and how effective they are for the consultants and users. It has 15 sources.

In contrast to the past when people could not be treated in time to prevent loss of life present-day planning has greatly influenced the fate of those in need and modifications have occurred in the way that health care is administered. Currently though, the job is far from complete, as there are yet more efforts being made in order to further ameliorate healthcare services in the country.

According to geographical boundaries, there appears to be a need for extension of healthcare in order to reach those who might consume valuable time traveling to healthcare centers in case of emergency. Especially in case of individuals suffering with CHF, a remedy for such patients would be most welcomed.

Analysis:

Presently, Telehealth is being implemented to aid those with CHF in rural areas that are enormously distanced from medical care centers. This is a unique way of serving people with CHF, as the patient is responsible for reporting what he feels to consultants at the other end of the communication devices.

The field of consultant nursing normally demands more of a person than any other job, perhaps, even more than a doctor or surgeon. This is because one has to be emotionally involved to understand how a patient feels. A very common misconception is that a consultant has to be emotionally hardened so that s/he can brave the tough times one may have to face.

As far as dealing with patients through Telehealth consultants might be less exposed to the direct emotional contact that is often shared between consultants and their clients. (Robusto, 2002) In the case of dealing with CHF patients, this is something that is highly restricting because of the fact that face-to-face consultation cannot be compromised. This is because of the fact that face-reading in these conditions are important in detecting whether or not a patient is holding any thing back.

By simply telling a consultant how one feels isn't sufficient, as that is only the opinion of the patient about himself, and obviously a consultant would have differing impressions. Hence, simple communication isn't fruitful enough.

It appears that there would be a lot of changes and risks accompanying the search for and implementation of telemedicine technology. There is indeed a lot to be considered before these new method of treatment and attention are implemented on a large scale, as it seems that there are certain vital questions unanswered. It also seems that the development of the post of nurse consultant will encourage more people to go to a hospital to get treated rather than staying at home. This will be reinforced with the number of people being uncertain about the capability and uncertainty of using telemedicine technology. WorkForce Development: Nursing Profession (2002)

The low cost of the Telehealth service is something that is encouraging to the clients and they would be keen to take advantage of its availability. But at the same time a question that is worth asking is whether or not providing low cost service to rural areas is what matters. In reply to this, health officials would obviously not agree on sacrificing quality service. Either service has to be ameliorated and maintained at a high standard or it should be with drawn. For Cost Effective Management of Congestive Heart Failure (2003)

In Telehealth, one can see that there is a need for a consultant to carry out his or her duty in a different manner as compared to how one would perform the same nursing duties in a hospital, which means that thee are significant limitations to the extent that a consultant can render his or her services. There is perhaps far more stress when a consultant has to work outside his or her environment, which is outside a hospital. Essentially, there is a focus on the duties that are encompassed when a consultant is involved in Telemedicine because a consultant deals with patients online, and the consultant and the patient don't meet each other regularly in person (Whitlock, 2001)

By the reduced contact between the consultants and their clients there is a great chance that the ultimate form of Telehealth may not be achieved. Telehealth desires the best form of healthcare to be provided to clients while they remain miles away from hospitals. If the best form of healthcare cannot be provided that Telehealth will not be popularized, and solutions to distances between hospitals and clients in rural areas will not be achieved.

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Presently, while encouraging Telehealth, consultants are the only ones who seem to gain anything significant out of the expedition. This is because of the fact that they are the ones who are saved from the drudgery that they are normally exposed.

Besides being saved of the blue-collar work, they will be exposed to less tension than when they have to deal with a patient directly. This means that they will be under less stress and can perform their duties in more relaxed conditions, although, this would require them to be more alert, as handling data effectively and carefully is of prime importance. There should be no question of a mix-up when handling large amounts of data of various patients. (Scannell, 1995)

In addition to the streamlined advantages that Telehealth has for consultants there is every chance that the field could become more prestigious, as it is becoming more specialized. However, it is the clients who should be given the first priority while considering Telehealth, as they are the ones who will be paying for services that they would expect to be of standard.

Clients at first might be enthralled by the lower costs of medical aid, and so, there would be a lower number of people visiting clinics. This means that the consumers at home would have to get an aid for the patient at home, which would also cost them some money. It might be more appropriate to send a patient to the hospital than to handle him or her at home. This of course refers to very sick people who are in need of physical assistance. For Cost Effective Management of Congestive Heart Failure (2003)

Concerning clients suffering with CHF, it must be realized that these people can be helped without any physical assistance through the latest developments in Telehealth. The electronic services provided for CHF cases are ones that aim at overwhelming difficulty that consultants may experience when dealing with them. For example, the monitoring services provided to clients would be the 'In-Touch Companionship monitoring equipment' by Pioneer medical systems. This equipment basically accomplishes transmission of electronic signals for medical data, in the form of photographs, x-ray, images, audio, patient records, video conferences, etc. (Johnson et al., 2002)

The above features in the equipment provided to CHF clients, who are in need of online assistance, are ones that provide almost total communication. It is through these features that a client's heart performance may be monitored. In addition to this the client may communicate through more user friendly software provided. This software has a greater variety of answers that clients can respond with when answering their consultants. (Wehrman, 2002)

By Telehealth implementing special question algorithm to monitor progress they succeeding in bridging the gap that was previously seen as a vast one between clients and consultants. Each Heart Success Care Track, with its prescribed level of Telehealth contacts or visits the client in need. The questions provided are specific to problems of CHF clients. These questions can be easily answered by the patient or even their caregiver in a matter of a few minutes. (West et al., 1997)

In addition to the monitoring and question and answer exchange between clients and consultants, images are transmitted too, which enable consultants to get a better idea of their state of health. Video conferencing is another great feature that has ameliorated communication between clients and consultants. (West et al., 1997)

Coupling all these features are the records that consultants have access to. This enables them to make out any differences in the clients state of health, as quickly as possible. In addition to this, incoming data is immediately stored without a consultant having to worry about where and how it would be kept safe.

It is seen as mandatory to have Telehealth installed in the homes of those who have recently suffered heart failures, as:

42% of all CHF patients are re-admitted within the first 90 days following their initial hospitalization?

90% of all CHF discharges have no home health care ordered at discharge?

And 62% of all CHF patients visit an ER at some time during their condition? And over 90% of the ER visits require admission? For Cost Effective Management of Congestive Heart Failure (2003)

Conclusion:

With innovations that companies have come up with for better communication and monitoring of CHF patient conditions serving people in rural areas. With this type….....

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