E-Health refers to all forms of healthcare delivered on the Internet, ranging from informational, educational and commercial “products” to direct services offered by professionals, non-professionals, businesses or consumers themselves. It includes a wide variety of the clinical activities that have traditionally characterised Telehealth, but are delivered through the Internet.
Telehealth is not science fiction. It is a present-day reality which will be widely available in the nearest future. The underlying technology is already very much in use in modern-day business. But the news flash is that Telehealth is more recently being referred to as e-Health, so as to accommodate the Internet component which is the rave across the globe.
“Telemedicine involves a medical practitioner or specialist consulting real-time with a patient or other healthcare workers in another location through video conferencing technology,” says Henri Onyemachi, MD/CEO, Redbridge Healthcare Management Company. “There is Teleradiology where, for example, a CT scan of a patient can be viewed and discussed within a short time by a team of specialists overseas.” Onyemachi adds that there is Mobile Healthcare (M-Health), which involves remote support for patients and health workers through a mobile handheld application. For instance, a general practitioner can receive on-the-minute information about his patient’s blood pressure through a sensor worn by that patient and transmitted to the former in his office several kilometres away.
“Through M-health, timely primary healthcare can be delivered to areas that cannot be accessed physically because of geographical disadvantages – bad roads, creeks, etc. Care can equally be given to someone who may not be geographically disadvantaged but is physically confined to a space,” adds Onyemachi. “Seriously, in the next 10 years, urban healthcare consumers shall largely be mobile patients who will be in constant touch with their caregivers.”
Meanwhile, there is another aspect of e-Health which includes medical informatics or electronic health records management. What this means is that patient information is put in a digital form that can be easily shared between healthcare professionals irrespective of location. With this system, a hospital can store its patient records in an electronic format…or in a computer, rather than the annoying mass of paper files. This electronic database can improve healthcare delivery in many ways. For instance, patient waiting time will be reduced because medical information will be pulled up quite easily. It means data can be easily sent to another hospital in the event one is involved in an accident somewhere else, or so that the doctor in another location can easily continue treatment without the time-consuming exchange of paper correspondence.
Onyemachi is very optimistic about the sweeping changes that this innovation will usher in, which is why he says: “It means the healthcare facility can have a ready database for research and business planning. In a paper-based system, there is no way one can know how many malaria cases he has treated with Chloroquine in the last 10 years, except he pulls out those files and goes through them one by one. In an electronic system, however, one can report that information in seconds. That is why we grouped this aspect of our business interest under process improvement.”
With every innovation comes a challenge, which means e-health is not free from hiccups. But Onyemachi doesn’t quite agree they are insurmountable: “The challenges are common across Africa. I will say that the main ones are insufficient internet bandwidth, inconstant power supply, poor rural infrastructure, weak government commitment, and user resistance to change, especially among health professionals. Medical people are slow when it comes to the uptake of technology, maybe because the medical profession and training are essentially conservative. I think there are ongoing plans to revise the curricular of healthcare professional training in the country to address the dynamics of a changing 21st century world.”
In the past few years, the following e-Health services have emerged: Health portals or health information sites which empower consumers and physicians through customised education and online community experience; Connectivity and communications solutions which streamline administrative workflow, thereby reducing waste and inefficiencies; and, E-commerce, including online health insurance and drug prescriptions.
As technology evolves on a daily basis, we could see even greater value-added Internet applications, including sophisticated chronic disease management tools. And as the market matures, a consolidation of all the online services will become likely. Before long, we could have a truly “Integrated Delivery System,” with attendant quality, access and low cost.
---
Autor(en)/Author(s): Kemi Ajumobi
Quelle/Source: BusinessDay, 30.04.2010
Bitte besuchen Sie/Please visit:
