The first six sessions were focused on recognizing that these patients all had different fears and worries that impacted how the body felt and what brain activities were going on. The second six sessions were built off the first six by promoting the development and implementation of youth-specific anxiety reduction strategies and goals of coping with the stress. The telehealth intervention part of this study was individualized to fit the different needs of each patient and their family to make it as “real-life” as possible. Throughout these sessions it was very important that the videoconferencing program was affordable and commercially available for home use. In order to measure the parent and youth satisfaction of this study, the families independently completed a web-based satisfaction measure during sessions 4-9. The results concluded that 92.9% of parents and 88.8% of youth were very satisfied with the intervention content, delivery method, and alliance with the therapist. Even though there was not a certain conclusion as to if telehealth was more impactful then face-to-face treatment among Autism patients, it did report that the telehealth version of treatment has the potential to impact anxiety and excessive fears in youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

            I believe this study was a great example of new ways telehealth could be successful within the medical field. There were a few bumps in the road with some connection loss or audibility was cutting in and out, but it allowed the youth to stay relaxed in a familiar space such as their home. Having the ability, as a parent, to keep your child calm and still receive the treatment they need is a huge benefit when caring for a child with ASD. In some circumstances I do think we are losing the personal aspect of health care when using telehealth, but in situations such as this, they could be extremely impactful. Overall, I believe that telehealth is going to become the next big thing in health care. It is going to make access and delivery a lot easier for patients especially like the ones in this study who are not readily accessible to treatments and live in rural areas. 

 

Hepburn, S. L., Blakeley-Smith, A., Wolff, B., & Reaven, J. A. (2016). Telehealth delivery of cognitive-behavioral intervention to youth with autism spectrum disorder and anxiety: A pilot study. Autism : The International Journal of Research and Practice, 20(2), 207–218. http://doi.org/10.1177/1362361315575164

 

When the TeleMOVE program happened there was 171 patients. Out of the 171 there was 37 women and 134 men. There were two cycles the participants could have been in, but didn’t have to do both. In the first 90-day cycle of TeleMOVE the results were associated with significant weight loss and those who participated in the second cycle, as well as the first, lost significantly more weight overall. According to Skoyen et al. (2015), “those who enrolled in the first cycle lost on average 5.55 lb (SD=8.23), whereas those who enrolled in two cycles lost on average 11.68 lb (12.53)” (p.631). The TeleMOVE program delivered the promise to help veterans lose weight. (Skoyan et al., 2015)

 

I think that the TeleMOVE is a great example of ways to improve the healthcare system in the future. Having the access at home makes it easier for the patient. Each patient gets a telehealth monitor, a digital scale, pedometer, and a booklet to use. Also everyone gets assigned a care coordinator that can help keep them on track. It is important that the patient gets a care coordinator so the personal aspects and one on one care isn’t lost. It hasn’t been around long, but I think it is going to be a good addition to the healthcare system. 

 

Skoyen, J. A., Rutledge, T., Wiese, J. A., & Woods, G. N. (2015). Evaluation of teleMOVE: a telehealth weight reduction intervention for veterans with obesity. Annals Of Behavioral Medicine, 49(4), 628-633. doi:10.1007/s12160-015-9690-7

            Some ideas that were portrayed in the article to help alleviate the need for mental health care among people who suffer from hearing loss involved telehealth. The writers define telehealth as ‘the use of telecommunications and information technology to provide access to health assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, supervision, education, and information across distance’ (Wilson & Wells, 2009). A system where mental healthcare professionals can live chat clients or where a vast amount of questions could be answered directly would be a benefit to many. The main component in improving the mental healthcare of patients would be live or patient specific conversations with physicians. This kind of personal interaction could be designed to orientate to the patient’s specific needs rather than the alternative of, for example, looking up symptoms and a diagnosis through a universal online website. The use of telehealth would be able to address health issues more quickly and efficiently. 

            Because it is a form of technology, there is always a chance that there could be glitches or other technological issues. In my opinion, it would be a risk worth taking to be able to aid so many people in a short amount of time. I think that telehealth in the future will be very beneficial for everyone. Patients will be able to interact with physicians without having to go to a healthcare facility. The cost of using telehealth would be cheaper than seeing a physician. Physicians would be able to communicate information, ideas, and patient charts among one another. The benefits are endless.

 

Wilson, J., & Wells, G. (2009). Telehealth and the deaf: a comparison study. In Deaf studies and 

     deaf education (Vol. 14). 

            The results from this study indicate clear evidence of improvements in physical function, cognitive function, functional independence, and high-rated quality of life from telerehabilitation. Additionally, satisfaction measurements were rated very high. This may be because of patient motivation and compliance with prescribed treatment regimens, but nevertheless, patient satisfaction is important when considering the future of telerehabilitation. It should also be noted that telerehabilitation minimized time, expense, and the inconvenience of travel for the Veterans on top of the increased function and satisfaction rates. All of the results prove that in-home video telerehabilitation is promising when finding alternatives to standard face-to-face care. 

            The future for telerehabilitation is bright. There are many other studies proving that outcomes for patients receiving telerehab is just as sufficient as face-to-face care and that the satisfaction is equal too due to the fact that it accommodates to the individual’s needs. Furthermore, with an increase of access to those in rural communities, this can decrease cost and waiting times for clinics nationwide. While some may be hesitant to try telerehab, it will soon be a main alternative because of the vast attention and approval it has already acquired. Telerehab will be one of many benefits to telehealth, if it is not considered that already.

 

Levy, C. E., Silverman, E., Huanguang, J., Geiss, M., & Omura, D. (2015). Effects of physical therapy delivery via home video telerehabilitation on functional and health-related quality of life outcomes. Journal Of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 52(3), 361-369. doi:10.1682/JRRD.2014.10.0239

 

            During Dr. Booley’s online appointments, she is able to address most primary care complaints. The handheld camera and attached light is so powerful and clear that it is just as effective as being there in person. The dermascope magnifies skin lesions so well that it is more effective than seeing them in person. One issue she does run into is determining skin tone when it is being transmitted through the camera, especially when the patient has darker skin tones or in a shadowed room. She proceeds to explain that a telehealth appointment is nearly the same as a face-to-face visit. Dr. Booley and her coworkers at Morningside average six to eight patients a day.

 

            The five most common diagnoses diagnosed through telehealth patients at morninside were a llergic rhinitis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and depression. I think that there are millions of people that could benefit from telehealth. While there are things that should require a face to face doctors visit, there are so many diagnoses that can be made through telehealth. One of the most important parts of primary care is supporting and education the patients and this is one of the easiest things to do through on screen visits. I think Telehealth could be a big part of the future.

Christine A. Boodley, RN, PhD, FNP, School Of Nursing, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston

 

Nine patients were interviewed and seventeen patients filled out questionnaires, while three clinicians who delivered both interventions were also interviewed to gain a better understanding of their opinions and views on Telehealth services. For the interviews, five of the nine individuals completed the Telehealth Service and the remaining four received standard service. The interviews took place in the patients’ homes by the same individual, with audiotaping taking place to gain additional research. For the questionnaires, patients were asked for permission regarding their participation, and if a patient chose not to participate in the study or didn’t meet the necessary requirements, they received the standard service. The article states, “The questionnaire comprised of open and closed questions covering five aspects of the service: first thoughts on hearing of the service and seeing the equipment, equipment installation and training, use of the equipment, and availability of support and removal of the service” (Fitzsimmons, Thompson, Bentley, Mountain, 2016). 

Telehealth provides individuals with long term conditions with many more opportunities and less challenges, as this form of technology takes away the aspect of having to be at a specific location when receiving health care services. Cost-effectiveness is also an additional benefit. As a result, patients who received both forms of service expressed feelings of safety from the service and how it was delivered to them. Patients who were provided with Telehealth service received 50% fewer home visits from clinicians than recipients of community-based nursing interventions, but were impressed about the service and viewed it as the best service they had ever received (Fitzsimmons, Thompson, Bentley, Mountain, 2016). This study ultimately concludes that Telehealth is a positive alternative compared to a home nursing visit when monitoring patients with COPD following their discharge from a hospital.

Fitzsimmons, D., Thompson, J., Bentley, C., Mountain, G. (2016). Comparison of patient perceptions of Telehealth-supported and specialist nursing interventions for early stage COPD: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 1-12. 
doi: 10.1186/s12913-016-1623-z  

 

Telehealth has benefited so many patients over the past years not only do they not have to travel, but they also get to stay in the comfort of their own homes. By using telehealth patients have saved money and time. Like what the article says “clinical and direct observation takes time and money that the patients often lack, leaving them with a choice of receiving treatment or earning a living” (1). This option for healthcare now has made many improvements when it comes to testing and treating patients. Now with the baby boomers getting older in age there are bunch of elderly living at home, depending on their children to come in and take care of them, but with telehealth this makes it beneficial to the family, and less burdensome. 

The study was based on the benefits and the differences between the drive-around service, and the telehealth video chat. This home video observation is a patient-centered, and the most resourceful way of trying to figure out what your diagnosis is. Not only is it cost sufficient, but it is also time sufficient as well. Telehealth video chats have increased the direct observation of TB and also used less staff time. In poorer countries they noticed that this was the better option when it came down to the cost of things. TB is something to take serious, and the sooner you catch it the sooner you can go back and live a healthy life. With video chatting and being able to catch TB and making sure that the patients are still taking their medication everyday has not only helped the patient, but has also helped the nursing staff in many ways as well. 

Source:
Wade, V. A., Karnon, J., Eliott, J. A., & Hiller, J. E. (2012). Home Videophones Improve Direct Observation in Tuberculosis Treatment: A Mixed Methods Evaluation. PLoS ONE, 7(11).
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0050155

              The article about  telemedicine I choose to write about is about is about the benefits of using telemedicine for therapy purpose. The article is about the different benefits that telemedicine can have on the psychiatry field. It describes the current problems with psychiatry, one of the key problems being the lack of properly trained  professionals, and how telemedicine can help. The article then goes on to describe telepsychiatry as “  The delivery of healthcare and the exchange of healthcare information for the purposes of providing psychiatric services across distances”. This is important because it will allow psychiatrists to do more from their home and patients will also be able to be well without leaving the comfort of their own couch.

              As I was reading this article I was imagining the many positive outcomes of individuals being able to communicant and visually see their psychiatrists from home.  I feel there would be an incline in people whom use therapists and countless other ways for them to help.  One of the ideas I thought about was the future of telepsychiarty. I feel with the mass improvements to the holographs and virtual reality technology the possibilities could be infinite of the things they could do to improve patient success.  

Overall I feel the telepsychiatry felid is about to greatly grow with the ease and convinces technology has provided. Although the Telepsychiatry department is fairly new It continues to develop better and better with the latest technology. I agree with this article about there being downfalls to updating and upgrading with technology and the costs of constantly having to have the latest and greatest would also be a negative, but the positives in this situation I feel defiantly outweigh the negatives. There is so much potential with telepsychiatry, one can only imagine what the next few years have instore for the whole psychiatry field.

 

NORMAN, S. (2006). The use of telemedicine in psychiatry. Journal Of Psychiatric & Mental Health                                        Nursing, 13(6), 771-777. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2006.01033.x

                Telehealth has been creating many new options for many people, and have been making life much simpler for health care providers and their patents. In a case I found done in 2009, a rehab facility organized a pilot program to help find whether or not telehealth could be used to meet physical therapist supervision requirements. Telehealth was evaluated in a 51-person sample. In this, telehealth services were delivered to patients in a manner using audio and video.   

                The main reason for conducting this test was because of the amount of physical therapists workforce shortages. In some SNF residents had medically complex conditions that required the PT’s and PTA’s to have extensive experience in treating them. Many of them didn’t have this extensive knowledge therefor making it hard for them to treat their patients and for them to get people with the necessary skills. Once the idea of telehealth was brought to everyone’s attention, everyone was on board with testing the new technology. 

                In 2014 the House of Delegates of the American Physical Therapy Association endorsed telehealth as an applicable source of delivery. In 2015 the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy released a recommendation for telehealth model for physical therapist practice. Positive feedback from use of telehealth was reported. Also, positive cost savings from the use of telehealth was estimated to be approximately $5,000.

Alan Chong W. Lee, Michale Billings (February 2016).  Telehealth Implementation in a skilled Nursing Facility: Case Report for Physical Therapist Practice in Washington. Volume 96 

Some of the risk factors that come with having heart failure are atrial fibrillation, sclerotic valvular heart disease, obesity, diabetes mellitus and renal dysfunction (Ford, Graves, & Mooney, 2013). Telehealth uses lots of health care providers to videoconference or internet-based applications to help prevent these risk factors. To see if telehealth is effective, they brought together different kinds of studies to answer their questions. 

The results that came from the study showed improved health, better education which lead to better self-care behaviors, and it saved the patient money. Many believe that patients will struggle with the technology but the study also showed that it is easy to adapt to. Telehealth is very beneficial but I can also see there being some problems since it is no face to face. I believe telehealth will help many patients in the future.

Graves, B. A., Ford, C. D., & Mooney K. D. (2013). Telehealth Technologies for Heart Failure Disease Management in Rural Areas: An Integrative. Online Journal of Rural nursing and Health care, 13(2), 56-83.