Telemedicine and Malpractice

Telemedicine requires interaction and communication between patients and doctors over devices such as phones, computers, tablets, and applications like Skype. While it might seem to be a fresh and upcoming technology, telemedicine has in fact been practiced over the telephone, in the United States for nearly 50 years. With advances in technology, telemedicine is anticipated to grow exponentially in the following couple of years.

The risk for potential malpractice litigations grows as telemedicine grows in popularity. Concern stems from the fact that there may not be a face-to-face assessment together with the medical advice that's given. Telemedicine has wide support among both political parties and is outlined in the Affordable Care Act. Many supporters argue that telemedicine can increase accessibility to healthcare while also substantially reducing costs.

The number of litigations associated with telemedicine has been comparatively low. Experts, however, are anticipating that number to climb as telemedicine grows in popularity. Many malpractice cases involving telemedicine have contained nondisclosure agreements so real numbers and particular issues or concerns and have been settled are difficult to assess.

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Telemedicine: The Future of Urgent Care?

Telemedicine has proven useful in prison communities and rural areas, and a few providers are looking to the future with low cost telemedicine for nursing home continued care. Inadequate expert resources in certain regions have driven the market for telemedicine practices that can deliver expert care at lower prices. There's been numerous peer review papers published over the last 20 years that support clinical utility and the cost efficacy of telemedicine. Solutions to several of the technical challenges related to telemedicine are being developed to improve outcomes and lower costs.
Cloud-based applications like Virtual Health use video technology with virtual clinical services. A patient can connect with their physician by video portal, enter information about their health, and then clinical triage tools analyze the info to find out if an online visit is appropriate. Healthcare in the cloud allows health care organizations to get software options and the newest infrastructure and allows providers to economically adopt new technology as needed, increasing clinical capabilities cost effectively. A virtual health display refers to an interface revealing the patient's vital signs through a unit like Google Glass and could be utilized to monitor patients when the doctor isn't in proximity to the patient.
Telemedicine has been around for over two decades, however just recently has been more highly integrated into the healthcare system with digital physicians already playing a function in some rural settings in the usa, and in underdeveloped countries all over the world. Regulatory hurdles are playing an important part in slowing the pace of innovation and in keeping technology costs high. Current difficulties must be recognized by businesses and innovative health care alternatives developed in combination with health care organizations. It is important to be able to seamlessly and rapidly incorporate electronic medical records, biometric devices, and other info into both the user system and software for appropriate analysis. Telemedicine is an idea whose time has come. It holds the possibility of better use of scarce resources and improved access to healthcare.

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