The rise of telehealth in the UK healthcare industry.
The UK healthcare sector has seen a significant shift to the use of technology to supplement the service offered by health care professionals. Traditional healthcare services are facing significant issues in delivery and telehealth can help to resolve some of these issues.
Telecare and telehealth are often used intermittently, however there are differences. Telecare systems are generally alarm based which alerts responsible people should an alert be triggered. Telehealth systems are monitoring equipment, where by users can record their vital statistics, which are fed back to healthcare professionals for effective and on-going monitoring.
The case for telehealth
Telehealth is becoming increasing utilised as the NHS system faces issues of dwindling budgets. This mixed with an aging population, the impact of chronic health problems which people live with through ongoing medical assistance the pressure on hospitals to find innovative ways to manage the rise in demand against the fall in supply.
The possibilities
The possibilities for telehealth include –
- Early release schemes – these allow patients of routine operations to recuperate at home – with a link back to the hospital ward via a two way video connection. The Nurse can check in to a patient at home and check their condition, making notes just as they would if the patient was in a hospital bed. The patient enjoys being able to rest at home in familiar surroundings, being in their own routine and having their family around them.
- Care for chronic conditions – people with chronic conditions can have increased monitoring from the comfort of their own homes. With daily ‘check ins’ with the monitoring equipment, these devices then send the details in to doctors or nurses. These health care professionals can monitor these statistics, enabling them to understand more about the individuals condition and also allow for early intervention should signs start to show. Early intervention can be a cost saving for the hospitals.
- Visiting your doctor from anywhere – using video services, such as skype, patients can ‘visit’ their GP’s surgery, from their own home, work or other location. Having a check up, discussing continued care or to talk about concerns, these video consultations are practical for both GP and patient.
Friend or foe?
Telehealth will be fundamental to the development of the UK health care sector. The roll out of these services will undoubtedly come with some resistance, both from users and from health care professionals. However, the benefits to the long term stability of the NHS healthcare service are too great for it not to be implemented. There are benefits to patients too with fast recovery times and lower re admission rates.