Telehealth is reshaping how patients interact with healthcare professionals. Kopf (2022) explains that telehealth is an umbrella term used to describe the provision of healthcare services to patients remotely through the use of telecommunications technology. Kopf (2022) further explains that this includes the exchange of medical information between medical professionals while also providing patients with the necessary information needed to manage their personal healthcare.
Role of Technologies:
Internet of Things (IoT):
Patients have access to a vast array of medical devices that they can utilise at home to track health-related metrics, such as their “heart rate” and “blood pressure” (Intel, 2022). These devices can be connected to the cloud using IoT allowing patients to collect and share their data in real-time with their healthcare providers for analysis and further evaluation (Intel, 2022).
Artificial Intelligence (AI):
Popov et al. (2022) explains that AI is a game-changer for the “global healthcare system”, as the vast amounts of data collected can be analysed and acted upon to improve processes such as drug development, diagnoses, and medical testing. Reddy (2022) highlighted the importance of AI in oncology, explaining that AI enables the creation of customised treatment plans for patients based on their “genetic makeup and lifestyle” and allows for better diagnoses, as AI can analyse and identify patterns that would otherwise be imperceptible to healthcare professionals.
5G:
5G’s potential in telehealth lies in its high speeds, high capacity, and “ultra-low latency” (PwC, 2020). Although remote healthcare appointments are possible using 4G, 5G has the potential to propel these services into a new league by including technologies such as “sensors and virtual reality” to allow doctors to measure their patient’s vitals during teleconference calls says PwC (2020). The near real-time processing of requests and data transfers using 5G has shown great promise for remote surgeries, where a healthcare professional’s motion can be mimicked at another location using “computerised equipment” in order to execute surgery on a patient (PwC, 2020).
Benefits of Telehealth:
Telehealth gives patients the opportunity to access to healthcare providers more easily which is especially vital in areas with a lack of medical services such as “rural and underserved communities” (Intel, 2022).
Telehealth doesn’t require patients and healthcare providers to be in the same immediate environment, which is vital in promoting safety for both parties (Intel, 2022). Healthcare providers can avoid being exposed to contagious diseases and “immunocompromised patients” can receive remote healthcare, eliminating additional risks associated with travelling to their healthcare providers (Intel, 2022).
The technology employed in telehealth services allows healthcare providers to monitor their patients’ progress more frequently as virtual health checks can be done more frequently thus improving the overall “quality of care” provided to patients (Intel, 2022). Intel (2022) explains that, through the use of AI, analysis of collected patients data can be automated and set to flag concerning data or changes in data.
While telehealth isn’t new to the healthcare industry, it was propelled to the forefront during the Covid-19 global crisis, as healthcare providers experienced an influx of patients (Kopf, 2022). Neil Patel, president of Healthbox, explains that telehealth enabled healthcare providers to do a “decade’s worth of work in the span of a few months” during the Covid-19 pandemic (Landi, 2020). He further states that patients have reported a positive experience with telehealth services (Landi, 2020). The adoption of telehealth systems appears to be on the upward rise, with Pitchbook predicting that the global telehealth market will grow to $312.3 billion in 2026 (Bouchon and Zong, 2021).
References:
Bouchon, S. and Zong, R., 2021. Digitalisation of The Health Sector: Market Trends. [ebook] Luxembourg: Lux Innovation, p.22. Available at: <https://www.luxinnovation.lu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/09/lux-market-trends-healthtech-v10_rgb-single-pages.pdf>
Intel, 2022. Telemedicine Technology Powered by AI and IoT. [online] Intel. Available at: <https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/healthcare-it/telemedicine.html>
Kopf, M., 2022. Digitalisation in Healthcare: Telemedicine & Telehealth. [online] K Health. Available at: <https://khealth.com/learn/healthcare/telehealth-vs-telemedicine/>
Landi, H., 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic will have a long-term impact on healthcare. Here are 4 changes to expect. [online] Fierce Healthcare. Available at: <https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/4-ways-healthcare-will-change-from-impact-covid-19-experts-say>
Popov, V., Kudryavtseva, E., Kumar Katiyar, N., Shishkin, A., Stepanov, S. and Goel, S., 2022. Industry 4.0 and Digitalisation in Healthcare. Materials, [online] 15(6), p.6. Available at: <https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/15/6/2140>
PwC, 2020. 5G in healthcare. [ebook] PwC, pp.3, 4, 6. Available at: <https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/tmt/5g/pwc-5g-in-healthcare.pdf>
Reddy, M., 2022. Digital Transformation in Healthcare in 2022: 7 Key Trends. [online] Digital Authority Partners. Available at: <https://www.digitalauthority.me/resources/state-of-digital-transformation-healthcare/>
