It is no doubt that technology is taking over the world. Today, it is not possible to name any single industry or sector that does not make use of technology in its operations. However, some sectors and industries have adopted technology at a higher rate and level than others. Even those that are slow in technological adoption are catching on. Here are facts regarding telehealth.

Medicine as a field is among those fields that have widely adopted technology. In modern times, there is the emergence of a field called tele-health. The definition and application of this field are elaborate. By definition, tele-health is the use of electronic information technologies and telecommunication to support health services. The definition states that the associated technologies are applied in supporting education, health administration, professional health-related public health, and long-distance clinical health care among other functions.

In simpler terms, tele-health involves the use of technologies to distribute health-related services. It allows long-distance patient-clinician contact and care, education, monitoring, remote admissions, intervention, reminders, and advice. In addition to that, practitioners are able to use tele-health to hold meetings, supervise others, and make presentations. The integration of healthcare systems and health data management are all included in this field.

A majority of the times, people often confuse between the terms telemedicine and tele-health. Nonetheless, it is key that one understands that the two refer to different concepts, with telemedicine being a bit shallower than tele-health. The description offered for telemedicine only touches on remote clinical services, including diagnosis and monitoring.

Tele-health on the contrary comprises of all the aspects of telemedicine and curative, promotive and preventive care delivery. The term tele-health is preferred over telemedicine since it entails definitions and concepts that are deeper. Disaster mitigation, dentistry, domestic health, disease monitoring and management and counselling are the additional aspects of tele-health. An additional aspects of tele-health is professional and consumer education.

Succeeding at tele-health has certain prerequisites that must be met. One of these prerequisites is the presence of a strong and reliable broadband connection. The infrastructure needed for the transmission of broadband signal includes cables, wires, optic fiber, and microwaves. Bandwidth quality determines the volume and quality of communication between two parties. Price of acquiring this infrastructure has often limited access by most patients.

As technology gets better and more accessible, the implementation of tele-health becomes a reality. However, besides access to the right infrastructure, there are certain factors that must be considered by health facilities before offering these services to patients. One of the activities that must be undertaken before starting to offer these services is performing a needs assessment.

Health facilities that have underutilized facilities are the ones in the best position to provide this service to patients. Implementing tele-health can help to use the underutilized resources better. It is best to determine if the area has some collaborators present. Where collaborators are present, all the parties can unanimously join efforts to provide the service as whole. In providing tele-health the aim should be to solve a certain social problem.