Telemedicine Usage: A Case Study

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Whitten, Buis & Love (2007) described Telemedicine as the delivery of healthcare over a distance through the use of telecommunication technologies. Gartee (2010) states that telemedicine can take many forms ranging from a simple phone call between individuals to a videoconference. One clinical application of telemedicine is e-visits. The internet and secure servers create opportunities for e-visits, in which physicians and patients interact virtually instead of face-to-face. In e-visits, patients log into their secure personal health record internet portal and answer a series of questions about their condition (Whitten, Buis & Love, 2007). The information from the portal is sent electronically to the physicians, who make a diagnosis, order necessary care, put a note in the patients' electronic medical records, and …show more content…
According to E-visit.com (2016), the telemedicine industry was valued at $17.8 billion in 2014 and is predicted to grow at a compound annual growth of 18.4% from 2014 to 2020. The number of patients using e-visits will increase to 7 million in 2018 which is an increase from 350,000 in 2013 (E-visit.com, 2016). Currently 29 states are requiring health insurers to cover e-visit services across America (E-visit.com, 2016). E-visit.com (2016) states that the Veterans Health Administration post-cardiac arrest care program has seen hospital readmission decrease of up to 51% for heart failure and 44% for other illnesses. E-visit.com further mentions a study conducted on Geisinger Health Plan that showed patient readmissions were 44% lower in 30 days and 38% lower over 90 days, compared to patients not enrolled in the telemedicine program (E-visit.com, 2016). A large number of patients who use telemedicine services have indicated a similar or higher quality of care than in-person office visits (E-visit.com,

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