Telemedicine has been used to mean the practice of using technology to provide healthcare remotely to patients through broadband connection (Gross Lyle, 2011). The use of telemedicine has various benefits that favor both patients and health practitioners, first and foremost, the technology improves access, and this means that patients do not have to physically visit the health practitioners in order to receive healthcare services from them (“OhioHealth Telemedicine,” 2016). Secondly, telemedicine reduces costs that would be incurred by patients to travel to hospitals. Lastly, it reduces costs to hospitals as physicians sometimes attends to medical situations in time such that patients do not have to be admitted hence reducing costs which could have been incurred to maintain them in hospitals.
Telemedicine, however, has a few challenges, being a new way of medical practice, telemedicine is affected by varied state laws and regulations, since this practice is majorly internet based and is expected to traverse national boundaries, the practice is affected by laws which vary from country to country. The technology may also eliminate the important medical practitioner-patient relationship that is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of the patient’s problem by the medical practitioner (Daniel, & Sulmasy, 2015). This may sometimes lead to misdiagnosis. Also with high reliance on the internet, telemedicine could be very unreliable as it can be affected by any online communication hitch ('Telehealth' expands, 2016) and such could lead to fatal results.
The policy recommendation required with this new technology is that there is need to review the laws and regulation used in the health care sector to factor in telemedicine but without compromising the necessary professional standards of practice. Secondly, licensing of medical practitioners allowing them to use telemedicine should be effected as unlicensed practice is likely to attract quacks. To deal with the physician-patient relationship that is threatened by telemedicine, the technology should just be used when the relationship is already established and diagnosis has already began, in other words, telemedicine should not entirely replace the old practice of physical contact between the patient and the physician (Daniel, & Sulmasy, 2015).
References
Daniel, H., & Sulmasy, L. S. (2015). Policy recommendations to guide the use of telemedicine in primary care settings: An American College of Physicians Position Paper. Annals of internal medicine, 163(10), 787-789.
'Telehealth' expands mental health provider's reach. (n.d.). Retrieved June 19, 2016,
OhioHealth Telemedicine Program Drives Better Outcomes. (2016, February 11). Retrieved June 19, 2016
Gross Lyle (2011, September 11). What is Telehealth and how can it help me? Retrieved June 19, 2016,
