Docto: Future Telemedicine Healthcare In Australia

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Telemedicine is a new frontier in medicine which is saving lives and improving patient care the world over.

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Telemedicine allows doctors to communicate with patient directly via a internet connection to allow for quick and remote care of patient.

Telemedicine has great potential as health and technology move forwards. Telemedicine is changing aspects of the way in which doctors and patients interact, for the better. The term "telemedicine" refers to the use of electronic communication technologies to enable the provision of healthcare at a distance.

Telemedicine the future of healthcare in australia

The application of telemedicine:

• A telephone or radio consultation between a doctor and a patient in a remote location, such as occurs regularly in outback Australia.
• A video consultation between a city specialist and a rural patient and their general practitioner. This eliminates the need for the patient to have to travel to see their specialist.
• Provision of emergency medical advice to people with limited medical training who are looking after an ill or injured person in an isolated location, such as aboard a ship at sea or on an airliner.
• The transmission of photographs, ECGs, X-rays, real time vital signs (and more!) to enable a distant specialist to give an expert medical opinion.
• To give the traveling public the reassurance of speaking with a doctor from their home country if they become unwell while overseas.
• A video consultation between specialists in an urban tertiary referral hospital and doctors in a much smaller rural hospital, to enable the provision of expert medical advice and facilitate patient transfer if necessary.
• Provision of consultations by doctors and allied health professionals for some urban patients (such as the elderly) in their homes.
• In fact the applications are limited only by one's imagination.
• The positive outcomes of effective telemedicine:
• An enhanced level of care which would otherwise not be possible within the same time frame.
• Reduced cost of healthcare.
• Increased convenience for patients.
• The provision of essential care to those in remote areas.

As always, the positives are accompanied by potential negative aspects, such as the dependence on communication media (e.g. internet-based video) that may be subject to variations in quality and reliability. This necessitates attention to quality of both hardware and software, as well as having a "lowest common denominator" contingency plan such as the telephone in the event of a communications failure. With the gradual introduction of the NBN to Australian cities and eventually the outback, the reliability and efficiency of the hardware necessary for telemedicine is set to improve greatly.

Another concern is that some aspects of the conventional doctor-patient interaction (such as parts of the physical examination) cannot be undertaken. While many medical problems can be dealt with via telemedicine, there are some situations where it will always be preferable to have a face-to-face consultation if possible. This issue mandates constant awareness on the part of the consulting doctor. Telemedicine is not a replacement for traditional medical practices; instead, it serves to compliment and aid the established industry.

Despite these minor drawbacks, the potential of, and need for, effective telemedicine capabilities cannot be denied. When conducted responsibly and thoroughly, telemedicine can make a real difference to those people who are most in need of care, like the crewman on board the merchant ship. It has already begun to revolutionize patient care and will continue to do so as new applications and technologies develop.

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Cite This Page (APA): Matter Solutions. (2015, November 16). Docto: Future Telemedicine Healthcare In Australia. Disabled World. Retrieved September 22, 2023 from www.disabled-world.com/medical/ehealth/docto.php

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