Telehealth systems enable people with long term health conditions, like heart disease and diabetes, to manage their health from home.
They can input details of blood pressure and glucose levels, which doctors can review online, reducing the need for frequent hospital appointments.
Patients are also given personal alarms which they can activate if they have problems, meaning that elderly or infirm people can live at home for longer, rather than staying in hospital.
The Telegraph reports that Paul Burstow, the Care Services Minister, now claims that around three million patients could be consulting their doctors and managing their health online by 2017.
Back in December, the Prime Minster said that he wanted technology rolled out on an "industrial scale" after a Department of Health study of 6,000 people found that it cut A&E visits by 15 per cent, emergency admissions by 20 per cent and mortality rates by 45 per cent.
Mr Burstow told The Telegraph: "By keeping people out of hospital, by reducing the time they're there when they have to be and by being far more targeted and efficient with the use of NHS resources, we estimate the widespread use of telecare and telehealth could save the NHS up to £1.2billion over five years."
Although Mr Burstow admits that there could be "substantial" initial costs, he said that there are no targets for implementation and the focus is on helping local healthcare providers to get the equipment they think they need.
The Guardian reports that Mr Burstow thinks that healthcare providers should be able to pay for equipment though a monthly contract, in the same way that many people already pay for mobile phones or laptops.
This strategy is already being used in Gloucestershire, where the NHS is working with provider Tunstall, who cover the up-front costs.
Mr Burstow also admitted that broadband capacity would also need to be improved as many of the people who would benefit most live in rural areas.
However the government has already promised £530million of funding to improve this.
There are also concerns about adequate staff training, along with fears that this kind of technology could prove problematic for elderly people who might find it difficult to use or would miss having face-to-face contact with doctors and nurses.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Ceri Roberts
Quelle/Source: AOL Lifestyle UK, 08.03.2012
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