It is time to listen to Telemedicine

The World Health Organization has adopted the following broad description:

“The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities”

The many definitions highlight that telemedicine is an open and constantly evolving science, as it incorporates new advancements in technology and responds and adapts to the changing health needs and contexts of societies.

Some distinguish telemedicine from telehealth with the former restricted to service delivery by physicians only, and the latter signifying services provided by health professionals in general, including nurses, pharmacists, and others. However, for the purpose of this report, telemedicine and telehealth are synonymous and used interchangeably.

Telemedicine applications have successfully improved the quality and accessibility of medical care by allowing distant providers to evaluate, diagnose, treat, and provide follow-up care to patients in less-economically developed countries. They can provide efficient means for accessing tertiary care advice in underserved areas. By increasing the accessibility of medical care telemedicine can enable patients to seek treatment earlier and adhere better to their prescribed treatments, and improve the quality of life for patients with chronic conditions.

Telemedicine can also help to prevent over-crowding of the hospitals.

Emergency medical services (EMS) agencies transport over 28 million patients per year in the United States. Many of these patients have critical illness and experience substantial morbidity and mortality during subsequent hospitalization. The recognition of critical illness during prehospital care by EMS could lead to redistribution of patients to regional centers of excellence or prompt specific treatment before hospital arrival. These strategies better match patient needs with critical care resources and are used in many time-sensitive conditions such as traumatic injury, acute cardiovascular disease, and cardiac arrest.

When it comes to what we think we know, we’re also often not alerted to our own paralysis.

If you think you know anything at all about the items on the above list, you’re suffering from a knowledge version of anosognosia.

Suspected witches were hung, not burned, in Salem. An animator named Ub Iwerks, not Walt Disney drew Mickey Mouse. You can’t see the Great Wall of China from space. The United States does not have an official language. And the 10% figure about the brain “is so wrong it is almost laughable,” explains neurologist Barry Gordon. Over the course of a day, we use 100% of our brains.

Here’s the thing: You can’t learn what you think you already know.

When we think we know the answers, we stop listening.

That is why we believe that the Health Care system is changing, and it is happening very fast. We can not rely on the technology or structure of the health care system that hasn’t changed too much for the last 25 years.