WHAT IS TELEMEDICINE?
The Coronavirus – 19 pandemic that startled the world in the year 2020 didn’t simply bring that alarming infection yet in addition opened the digital eyes of individuals too. This significantly impacted the manner in which individuals thought, acted and did their organizations. Medication was not excluded. Clinics started to look for different roads (generally virtual) separate from face to face conference, which would give the truly necessary medical care as well as guarantee the security of all health workers and patients needing healthcare for non-critical ailments, by averting further contact with such high-risk patients.
In numerous nations today, the utilization of computerized innovation for the transmission of clinical imaging, far off clinical determination and assessments and video conferences with experts have been made simple, financially savvy and increments patient commitment as it is currently normal.
Thus, telemedicine is presently extremely proficient and helpful as medical care is currently conveyed at the solace of your home utilizing electronic data and innovation. Utilizing telemedicine programming projects, patients can see a specialist for evaluation and treatment without worrying about scheduling difficult appointments …and from the comfort of their homes.
There are 3 common categorizations of telemedicine namely,
*Interactive: Permits patients and doctors to interact continuously eg in video conferencing.
*Store and Forward: Licenses suppliers to impart patient data to an expert in another area.
*Remote Patient Monitoring: It permits distant parental figures to screen patients that dwell at home by utilizing portable clinical gadgets to gather information, (for example, Glucose, Pulse and so on)
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT
The oldest form of telemedicine is teleradiology. Telemedicine has developed since then to reduce hospitalization, re-admissions, length of stay and costs and it gives high rates of satisfaction and better adherence to medication
With the NASA’s mercury space program in which they performed physiological observations over a distance, the historical foundations were laid. With the implementation of schemes where local healthcare staff took measurements in audiometry and otoscopy and forwarded results to higher cadre staff to determine need for patient contact for expert care, some form of remote medicine was already in practice. This is what has evolved into what we have today, powered by the availability of improving technology.
There are organizations that are creating wearable remote gadgets that can merge an accelerometer, stethoscope, electrocardiogam and different capabilities to gather information for nonstop perception and checking. There are additionally watches and rings that can quantify circulatory strain and pulse.
CURRENT ADVANCES
Dermatology and brain science are two of the greatest areas of telemedicine. Since 1990s, telemedicine has developed further. For instance, there is now an otoscope that connects with an iPhone.
Telepharmacy has been polished over distance for quite a while. It worked with the mechanizing of doctor prescriptions, remote audit and, surprisingly, remote dispensing.
Hospital based telemedicine is not difficult as it is growing quickly in 2 areas: *Stroke care and
*Care in the Intensive care unit (ICU).
With good imaging, high quality stroke exams can be done over a distance. Additionally, highly skilled personnel can deploy their skill over long distances in the care of the critically ill.
The experiences in remote and robotic arm surgery is equally exciting and encouraging.
LEGISLATION AND SUGGESTED GUIDELINES:
For telemedicine to work simultaneously with the conventional medical care framework and really, there is a requirement for a reasonable legitimate structure, the lawful and moral ramifications of telemedicine raises a few worries. These incorporate the Health expert’s commitments and future risk, and the commitment to safeguard the security and protection of clinical data. The outcome of Telemedicine could be subverted on the off chance that protection and security gambles are not tended to. One central issue is the question of the privileges and privacy of patients while utilizing Telemedicine. There are no formal Telemedicine conventions and techniques yet active in Nigeria. A few patients and healthcare workers know nothing about the nature of training and how secrecy ought to be safeguarded.
In the US, The HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) has set out protection and security rules for defending clinical data, and which expect that the data assembled through a telemedicine administration is encrypted by the Network providers being used. Moreover, while reaching patients, one is expected to guarantee that the patients are informed through a secure Network. Additionally, prior to recording and putting away video calls, the consent of the patient is required. It additionally requires medical care organisations to execute secure electronic admittance to healthcare information.
A Telemedicine meeting requires trading patient data; subsequently, it should be finished in a way that the security and wellbeing of such data are safeguarded. Sending the information safely ensures that only those who are engaging directly in the patient’s treatment will have the ability to access it.
On the 10th of November 2022, the World Health Organisation made a release, published on its site, on Guidelines for Telemedicine. Various parties contributed in creating the groundbreaking document as Dr Pascale Allotey clearly shows :-
“Our department is proud to have contributed to the development of this guide,” said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of WHO Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research and HRP (the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction). “Telemedicine is an important tool that expands access to critically needed sexual and reproductive health services – but we need to be mindful of the inherent inequities where access to the technology is limited or where there is the potential for harm. This Guide aims to support countries to deliver telemedicine services, while highlighting approaches to optimize and improve health for all.”
WHO recommends that national digital health strategies underpin all telemedicine interventions and include leadership and governance, strategy and investment, infrastructure, legislation, policy and compliance, workforce, and services and applications.
We encourage active community protection and personalized care.
