Introduction
Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication technology to provide medical services to people remotely, but sometimes can be used to provide medical information between doctors in different places. This type of technology can be as simple as two medical doctors discussing over the phone, or as complicated as the use of Very Small Aperture Technology (Vsat) technology, to discuss a consultation between two medical doctors in different parts of the world, by the use of video-conferencing, for example, a specialist at Washington Hospital can diagnose a patient who is a thousand kilometers in Africa, “with the help telemedicine video imaging, which is transmitted from the patient to the doctor in Washington. The patient life is saved, without the doctor traveling physically to the patient in Africa” (Charles 2008).
The use of this technology is widely used every day either by health professionals or large medical centers in different parts of the world. “Telemedicine applications in the world are playing an important role in the medical field and provide a tool that is necessary for healthcare, remote patient monitoring, and it has helped medical professionals to manage the disease effectively” (Dunn 2007).
Types Telemedicine
There are different kinds of telemedicine technology that are widely used in the health sector. “The first one is known as “store and forward”; this is used to send images from one place to another in a different place. It involves; a picture is taken by the use of a camera; it is then stored, and then sent using a computer to another doctor in a different place, this method is mostly used in non-emergency situations. The other kind of telemedicine is “telepathology”, this technology, images of the patient’s diagnosis in form of pathology slides which are sent to a doctor in another location for diagnostic, this method is widely used in hospitals. “The technology use two–way interactive TV (IATV), and involves face-to-face consultations between medical doctors in different parts of the world” (Jane 1996).
History of Telemedicine
Telemedicine was first used in 1960 when NASA was exploring the moon; Physiological measurements for astronauts were sent from the moon to NASA Centre on earth. The transfer of information from the moon to earth was made possible through the enhancement of Satellite technology (Vsat technology). In 1972, after the successful transfer of Information from the moon to earth, there were more than ten telemedicine projects that were funded by NASA. One successful telemedicine project, having been developed by NASA, was STARPAHC (1975). The project was able to deliver healthcare services to remote people of Papago, Arizona. A van, which had medical instruments, was linked to a Hospital in Washington, by use of a microwave communication link. While in 1989, NASA conducted the first overseas telemedicine project between the United States and Armenia. During that time a powerful earthquake struck Armenia, and there were a lot of causalities who lack healthcare care services. “Healthcare consultations were extended from Hospitals in the United States to Armenia. The same year telemedicine was extended to burn victims after a fiery railway accident, which happened in Ufa, Russia” (Jane 1996).
Telemedicine Application
The emergence of internet technology has helped in the improvement of the health sector. People can seek support and advice from millions of health professionals who are found online through the use of chats or blogs without leaving their homes. E-health has created a bridge between the clinical and non-clinical sectors in the world; this information can be secured by the use of secure sites i.e. “https”. Unified Medical Language System, is a system that helps the medical personnel and researchers to retrieve and integrate information from various sources and to make this information to be easy to understand. An example of the application of UMLS is computer-based patient records and factual databases. HL7, “this is an international community in the health sector (experts) they have created a standard for exchange and management of information in the healthcare sectors. One example is Electronics health record systems (HER)” (Dunn 2007).
Disadvantages of Telemedicine
There are still barriers to the use of this technology; many governments in the world would not allow a doctor from another country to practice in that country unless he is a licensed doctor in the same country. Some insurance companies would not pay back the money when the patient has used this type of technology, for example in the state of California, only person-to-person consultations scenarios are the ones they can get reimbursement, and lastly, most hospitals fear malpractice suits as a result of the doctor uses this kind of technology when he messes up the patient.
There are shortages of doctors who are conversant with telemedicine; this type of technology requires additional effort on the doctor’s part. Most doctors are acknowledging the success of telemedicine, but some of the doctors will not want to participate in telemedicine because of the extra work involved in treating a patient. “Telemedicine is used to address a shortage of doctors in remote places in the world; however, lack of funding in telemedicine, in these remote places is a problem” (Charles 2008).
Advantages of Telemedicine
The use of this technology has made specialized treatment in the urban and rural areas to be readily available to common people, telemedicine between a doctor in a rural area setup to a specialist has helped in minimizing the patient traveling and it is cheap that he/she may incur, with videoconferencing medical practitioners are being trained in isolated rural health centers around the world and lastly this type of technology has cut the cost of health care for those who are in rural areas. The use of telemedicine technology has increased in various parts of the world, and the cost of equipment that is used to treat patients has decreased, in the past five years. In 1993, there were only 13 active programs in the United States that deals with telemedicine technology. “The number of those programs at the moment in the US is doubling yearly, and treatment using this type of technology has tripled since 1996” (Charles 2008).
Healthcare Fraud
Filling of false claims is the most common type of healthcare fraud that is being committed in the country today, this type of criminal offense constitutes 80 percent of insurance fraud. Medical professionals are colluding with a criminal to obtain undeserved payment claims. Such schemes are done deliberately by the criminals with the help of a medical professional for financial gain. Some of the healthcare fraud may involve: a criminal will bill a hospital for service which he/she has not provided: or the criminal will misrepresent a medical condition: and lastly the doctor will order unnecessary tests.
Most Insurance Company covers a certain percentage of the actual amount the patient will be treated. Some doctors will charge the patient who is insured a higher cost of treatment than the usual cost; other doctors will bill the insurance company for inappropriate tests. In the United States, it is illegal to provide free care to patients who are insured, but it is not illegal to provide medical care to patients who have financial hardship.
Corrupt attorneys sometimes may conclude with medical professionals in hospitals, to bill insurance companies for non-existent injuries in patients. This type of fraud is mainly done by sportsmen, these men and women are paid to a fake car accident victim or to file worker compensation claimants in a company. The victims are told by doctors they need multiple visits so that they can bill the insurance company more. The doctor may report unnecessary services to a patient. “The lawyers then negotiate for settlement for these fraudulent claims by the patient” (Dunn 2007).
Conclusion
Shortly the use of technology will be just another way to see a medical doctor for consultations, just as talking to friends by the use of a phone. It has been seen also in the future we will have a “Personal Diagnosis Systems” in our living rooms, this system will check our health and it will automatically give this information to a doctor who is located in a hospital or remote place. Thirty years ago, it was unimaginable in the medical sector to rely on telemedicine in treating the sick, this technology is being used has not reached its full potential.
Reference List
Charles, A. (2008). Essentials of telemedicine and telecare. London: John Wiley and Sons Publisher.
Dunn, K. (2007). Telemedicine: practicing in the information age. Michigan: Lippincott- Raven Publisher.
Jane, M. (1996). Telemedicine: a guide to assessing telecommunications in health care. New York: National Academies Publisher.