The advantage of Telemedicine and outweigh its shortcomings discuss - Essay Example

It discusses the various levels of telemedicine and its different possible applications in healthcare, and examines the advantages and disadvantages. Keywords: Telemedicine, Telecare, E-health This article has been double-blind peer reviewed     Practice points Telemedicine has several applications and nurses need to understand the full range of possible uses. Using telemedicine technology in healthcare has several advantages and disadvantages.     Introduction Telecommunication technologies can be used to facilitate the delivery of healthcare to patients living in remote areas and enable information exchange between healthcare professionals (Maheu et al, 2001). In the UK, a growing and ageing population along with more sophisticated clinical interventions means that there are demands for an increasing focus on quality and efficiency to maintain ready access to effective healthcare. However, Stanberry (1998) warned that headlong investment in technology for its own sake is misguided. He advocated maintaining patient safety, consumer-focused relations between professionals and patients, and identifiable service improvement as significant considerations for investment in telemedicine. The Department of Health developed the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) to move the NHS in England towards a single, centrally-mandated electronic care record for patients. It connects GPs to hospitals, providing secure and audited access to records for authorised healthcare professionals (House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, 2007). The programme aims to improve patient care by enabling clinicians and other NHS staff to increase efficiency by giving them easy, safe and secure access to patient. The DH agency NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CfH) is responsible for delivering it. There are also plans for patients to have access to their records online through a service called HealthSpace. NPfIT is said to be “the world’s biggest civil information technology programme” (House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts, 2007).   Definition of telemedicine Most definitions focus on improved access to healthcare services through use of telecommunications technolo ...Show more