Health Information Associates International - TOUCH Consultation Services
Our organization in collaboration and consultation with other organizations, companies, country representatives, such as ministries of health or social security programs, explore, plan, develop, and implement Telehealth and Health Information technology (HIT) systems/platforms, networks, and specific applications that address healthcare needs.
1. Needs Assessment:
Deployment of Telemedicine Technology in High-, Low-, and Middle-Income Countries:
Study and Evaluation
The World Health Organization defines Telemedicine as: “The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.”
The last few years have seen the growth of Telemedicine at a growing rate throughout the world due to many factors. From the growing demand for medical services to a shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, to more affordable telemedicine technologies, nations are recognizing that the only way to provide adequate affordable care is to take advantage of this new opportunity.
The benefits include:
Telemedicine is best understood in terms of the services provided and the mechanisms used to provide those services. Here are some examples:
As this technology has been implemented worldwide, our experience has shown while many programs have provided the benefits listed above, there have also been many failures. Examination of these failures all point to one major failure: Faulty planning and a lack of understanding how to integrate this technology into the existing medical system. This can cause not only a failure of the intended medical care but can be extremely expensive.
To ensure that the Telemedicine deployment in Ecuador does not fall victim to this type of failure, we propose a 2-step approach. First, we propose to conduct an evaluation of the existing conditions to include technology, medical needs and priorities, and preparedness for implementation of a telemedicine program. We also propose eventually sending a team including telemedicine medical and technical specialists to work with representatives of the country to determine these conditions and develop a detailed report that will serve as a guide to appropriate steps needed to implement a successful telemedicine project.
This document will outline the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and identify the priorities that need to be addressed for implementation of a new approach to medical care for the people in the country. The formal components will be:
Contact us at [email protected]
1. Needs Assessment:
- Determine the healthcare needs, goals and objectives of a given geographic region in the world that could be addressed through the use of Telehealth and Health Information Technologies (HIT) and associated goals and objectives for incorporating telehealth into the healthcare equation of a given context.
- Determine the readiness to adopt and integrate Telehealth and HIT into the healthcare system.
- This may include evaluation of the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and health behaviors of a given geographic region, including cultural and political perspectives.
- Determination of available infrastructure and workforce to support Telehealth and HIT.
- Determine the most appropriate technologies that can meet defined healthcare needs and that could be realistically implemented and utilized.
- Determine the connectivity needs to support the Telehealth and HIT applications.
- Determine the training and educational needs for using these technologies.
- Determine the means for installation of the technologies to be deployed.
- Determine the needs to maintain these programs, networks, and applications.
- Determine the workforce needed to operate the Telehealth and HIT systems and provide healthcare services.
- Determine other health information needed to provide the service and how any applications and encounters will be documented.
- Assess appropriate security and patient privacy and confidentiality. Address legal and liability issues.
- Establish appropriate policies, standards, and guidelines for using Telehealth and HIT.
- Integrate Telehealth and HIT into workflow.
- Develop the business case for operating and sustaining the Telehealth and HIT programs and networks.
- Determine the potential return on investment (ROI) and resources needed to implement and maintain the Telehealth and HIT systems, including the potential sources of revenue to operate the system
- Determine the specific measures that indicate the benefits of the Telehealth and HIT applications.
- Develop methods to collect and analyze the data that determine successful impact on the healthcare system to improve access to services, better outcomes, and cost reduction.
- Develop the business associate agreements and contracts to develop the Telehealth and HIT programs, networks, and specific applications.
Deployment of Telemedicine Technology in High-, Low-, and Middle-Income Countries:
Study and Evaluation
The World Health Organization defines Telemedicine as: “The delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.”
The last few years have seen the growth of Telemedicine at a growing rate throughout the world due to many factors. From the growing demand for medical services to a shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas, to more affordable telemedicine technologies, nations are recognizing that the only way to provide adequate affordable care is to take advantage of this new opportunity.
The benefits include:
- Improved Access – For over 40 years, telemedicine has been used to bring healthcare services to patients in distant locations. Not only does telemedicine improve access to patients but it also allows physicians and health facilities to expand their reach, beyond their own offices. Given the provider shortages throughout the world--in both rural and urban areas--telemedicine has a unique capacity to increase service to millions of new patients.
- Cost Efficiencies – Reducing or containing the cost of healthcare is one of the most important reasons for funding and adopting telehealth technologies. Telemedicine has been shown to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase efficiency through better management of chronic diseases, shared health professional staffing, reduced travel times, and fewer or shorter hospital stays.
- Improved Quality – Studies have consistently shown that the quality of healthcare services delivered via telemedicine is as good as those given in traditional in-person consultations. In some specialties, particularly in mental health and ICU care, telemedicine delivers a superior product, with greater health outcomes and patient satisfaction.
- Patient Demand – The greatest impact of telemedicine is on the patient, their family and their community. Using telemedicine technologies reduces travel time and related stresses for the patient. Over the past 15 years, study after study has documented patient satisfaction and support for telemedicine services. Such services offer patients the access to providers that might not be available otherwise, as well as medical services without the need to travel long distances.
Telemedicine is best understood in terms of the services provided and the mechanisms used to provide those services. Here are some examples:
- Primary care and specialist referral services may involve a primary care or allied health professional providing a consultation with a patient or a specialist assisting the primary care physician in rendering a diagnosis. This may involve the use of live interactive video or the use of store and forward transmission of diagnostic images, vital signs and/or video clips along with patient data for later review.
- Remote patient monitoring, including home telehealth, uses devices to remotely collect and send data to a home health agency or a remote diagnostic testing facility (RDTF) for interpretation. Such applications might include a specific vital sign, such as blood glucose or heart ECG or a variety of indicators for homebound patients. Such services can be used to supplement the use of visiting nurses.
- Consumer medical and health information includes the use of the Internet and wireless devices for consumers to obtain specialized health information and on-line discussion groups to provide peer-to-peer support.
- Medical education provides continuing medical education credits for health professionals and special medical education seminars for targeted groups in remote locations.
As this technology has been implemented worldwide, our experience has shown while many programs have provided the benefits listed above, there have also been many failures. Examination of these failures all point to one major failure: Faulty planning and a lack of understanding how to integrate this technology into the existing medical system. This can cause not only a failure of the intended medical care but can be extremely expensive.
To ensure that the Telemedicine deployment in Ecuador does not fall victim to this type of failure, we propose a 2-step approach. First, we propose to conduct an evaluation of the existing conditions to include technology, medical needs and priorities, and preparedness for implementation of a telemedicine program. We also propose eventually sending a team including telemedicine medical and technical specialists to work with representatives of the country to determine these conditions and develop a detailed report that will serve as a guide to appropriate steps needed to implement a successful telemedicine project.
This document will outline the strengths and weaknesses of the current system and identify the priorities that need to be addressed for implementation of a new approach to medical care for the people in the country. The formal components will be:
- Existing Conditions Assessment
- Medical
- Work Flow Conclusions
- Work Force Conclusions
- Medical Needs Conclusions
- Technical
- Network
- Support
- Medical
- Professional Resources
- Medical Records Management
- Technical
- Telecommunications and connectivity
- Existing Technology
- Dr. Dale Alverson – Physician and Telehealth/Medical Informatics Specialist
- Brian Bingham; Project Management Specialist
- Paola Santana – Organizational Management Specialist
- Dr. Pedro Ramos - Physician and Telemedicine Specialist
- Dr. Augusto Ittig - Physician and Telemedicine Specialist
- Kenneth Kempner - Telemedicine and Imaging Integration Specialist
- Dr. John Lucas, Physician and Health Care Administration Specialist
- Dr. Margaret Gunter, Medical Sociologist Specialist
- Dr.Jeremy Stueven, Physician, Telemedicine and AI specialist
- Other subject matter experts or technical experts as required to develop any project plan
Contact us at [email protected]
