{"id":26112,"date":"2019-11-15T16:34:12","date_gmt":"2019-11-15T16:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.mtelehealth.com\/?p=26112"},"modified":"2019-11-15T16:34:12","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T16:34:12","slug":"telehealth-creates-a-new-kind-of-health-care-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drmiltie.com\/at-home-testing\/telehealth-creates-a-new-kind-of-health-care-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Telehealth creates a new kind of health care experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maria knew something was wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A working mom in her mid-thirties, Maria has diabetes \u2014 and she was feeling more fatigued than usual. She thought it could be a urinary tract infection (UTI), so she booked a video visit \u2014 a virtual consultation with a physician. The doctor agreed something wasn\u2019t right and sent her off for coordinated and expedited lab work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those tests showed a UTI wasn\u2019t the problem. Maria\u2019s diabetes had been uncontrolled \u2014 and worsening rapidly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctor set the patient up with home remote monitoring so her glucose levels could be tracked outside the medical office, with alerts programmed into the monitoring devices to notify her doctor in case of any issues. Her doctor checked in on her once a month via video visits. And after six months, she showed significant improvements. Her diabetes was back in check. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore using technology, this patient could have easily fallen off a cliff and ended up in one of our emergency rooms,\u201d said Dr. Dennis Truong, an emergency physician and director of the Telehealth\/Mobility program at the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With technology and an integrated delivery system like Kaiser Permanente, Truong continued, her doctors were able to head that off at the pass. And therein lies the potential and the promise of telehealth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we say \u2018telehealth,\u2019 we\u2019re basically saying that we\u2019re using technology to deliver or collaborate in health care,\u201d Truong explained. \u201cIt\u2019s about whatever works to fit care your day, rather than the old paradigm where you had to revolve your care around the doctor\u2019s office.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While telehealth is commonly thought of as a recent innovation, it actually dates to the 1940s, Truong said. That\u2019s when physicians began transmitting radiology images via telephone lines. In the 1950s, doctors began transferring electronic medical records by telephone lines. And in the 1960s, closed-circuit televisions were making video visits possible over long distances. That same era brought the advent of remote medical monitoring of animals being sent into space, which was basically a precursor to wearables and remote patient monitoring, said Truong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou had a problem of distance, and you were solving it using whatever technology was available at the time,\u201d Truong explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the advent of the internet and the ubiquity of smartphone technology has led to more rapid and game-changing advances. Truong describes modern telehealth technology as crossing four major \u201cdimensions\u201d: <\/p>\n\n\n\n