Impact of Telemedicine in Social Work

HEALTH CARE ADVANCEMENT AND TREND PAPER

Health Care Advancement and Trend paper

Telemedicine

Over the past year and a half, the healthcare industry has faced unprecedented disruption due to the COVID- pandemic. The healthcare industry's technology has been growing slowly in the past. However, there was a need for rapid innovation to deal with the pandemic. Telemedicine is the provision of remote healthcare services using real-time two-way communication (Calton, Abedini, & Fratkin, 2020; Yenikomshian et al., 2019). The patient and healthcare provider will make use of audio and visual communication tools. With the advancement of 5G-enabled devices, which offer reliable real-time connections, telemedicine will get a huge boost by eliminating the current hurdles based on technology or the connection's speed (Nittari et al., 2020). It would be possible for healthcare workers to deliver fast care without disruption, even in rural areas. With more connected devices, there is the possibility of revolutionizing the healthcare system using telemedicine (Schneider, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured an increase in telemedicine uptake within the industry, and patients are more receptive to the technology.

Telemedicine comes in the form of phone calls or video chat, where the healthcare provider will offer advice to patients based on the symptoms the patient describes (Calton et al., 2020). The doctor does not get to physically see the patient, which increases the number of patients a doctor can see in a day. Telemedicine also allows patients to access medical services even when they are located in remote areas. Eliminating the need for patients to physically visit a healthcare facility reduces the patient's time commuting to the hospital and waiting in line to see the doctor. Telemedicine reduces healthcare costs by ensuring healthcare facilities do not need to have large waiting areas for their patients. Patients can access medical services even when the facility is closed.

Highly personalized apps are being developed that allow patients to speak virtually with their physician or other healthcare providers. The patient can receive medical advice and instant diagnosis using these apps. For patients with chronic conditions, telemedicine is a lifesaver. The patient can receive instant advice, and they do not need to visit the hospital for treatment physically. Considering how oversubscribed healthcare services are, a chronic patient would end up spending hours waiting to see a doctor. However, the patient does not need to leave his house to see a doctor due to technology.

For social workers, telemedicine will allow a social worker to interact with numerous clients in a single day compared to physically visiting each client (Schneider, 2020). Increasing the outreach to patients improves the delivery of care. We can identify health problems early with improved care, and patients can receive the care they need before the disease progresses (Nittari et al., 2020). In nursing, telemedicine will reduce nurses' workload, as they can remotely monitor patients and receive alerts when a patient's vitals are abnormal. With the monitoring system in place, the nurse can focus on other patients instead of hanging around a single patient. Nurses can also offer services to patients remotely and reduce the number of patients who have to visit a healthcare facility physically.

Remote patients will benefit the most. Getting healthcare services in remote areas is tricky, and most healthcare organizations do not have facilities in remote areas (Abbatemarco et al., 2021). Therefore, the people living in such areas have to travel long distances to access medical services. However, with telemedicine, they can now access medical services easily and not have to travel long distances to see a doctor. Service delivery will improve, and the health outcomes of patients in remote areas will improve too.

Telemedicine has improved patient care. Some patients never want to visit a healthcare facility. These patients now have an easy way to access vital medical advice and treatment. As we have seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still a need to offer medical services while maintaining social distancing (Abbatemarco et al., 2021). Telemedicine has been the best solution for most healthcare providers.

Benefits And Limitations of Telemedicine

According to Langarizadeh, Moghbeli, and Aliabadi (2017) the major benefit of telemedicine is its relative ease of implementation. It only requires a web camera and a secure patient portal to connect the patient and doctor to a secure Electronic Medical Record database. With mobile apps available, the patient can access the portal directly from their mobile device and receive medical advice and treatment. Telemedicine offers convenience, expands access to high-quality medical diagnoses, and reduces patient wait times. The cost of a consultation is significantly lower than any other medical consultation. With the readily available patient information online, patient prescriptions are more accurate and reliable since there is no tampering and handwriting is legible.

Patient and physician experience is much better since they both can seek second opinions using telemedicine. There is a general slowing of the spread of infection. When a patient physically visits a healthcare facility, they will be around other sick people and, most cases, in close quarters. A person with a weak immunity is more likely to pick up infections when they visit healthcare facilities. Therefore, telemedicine will allow such patients to access medical services without risking being infected. Lastly, telemedicine offers improved health outcomes, which is the main goal for health service providers.

The limitations include delay in care. Delay in care for emergency needs is one of the major disadvantages of telemedicine (Longstreth, Slosser, Barry, Carrico, & McKibbin, 2018). There is no way for a physician to offer emergency lifesaving care using telemedicine. There is a huge risk of hackers accessing the medical data of patients. Since the patient will be accessing the portal from their device, if the device is infected with malware, it can spread to the healthcare organization, compromising patient data security and safety. Currently, not all insurers cover telemedicine. This makes it challenging for patients to access these services since they might not be reimbursed for the money spent.

Providers will be faced with licensing issues as providers can only offer services in states where they are licensed. A physician cannot offer medical advice in a different state. Therefore, they will need to ensure they know where the patient is located before offering their services. Technological challenges like weak connection will result in the service being unavailable.

Special Implications for Communities of Color or Special Populations

For special populations, telemedicine will increase their uptake of medical services. Special populations might be afraid to physically visit a healthcare facility due to discrimination or people staring at them. Therefore, using telemedicine, physicians can treat and offer medical advice in a safe environment for the populations. It is vital to ensure that special populations are not left out of medical services. In regards to this, telemedicine should be used to encourage them to seek services in the comfort of their homes. There might be some disabilities that make it hard for a person to visit a healthcare facility, and if they are not checked upon, such people will get infections that can spread quickly. Using telemedicine, such patients can get treatment and prescriptions. Physicians can also schedule visits with them when the healthcare facility is not too busy, and they can come in for a physical check-up. Longstreth et al. (2018) posits the overall goal of telemedicine is to increase accessibility to healthcare, and for such populations, there will be a significant increase in access.

Contribution To Individualized or Patient-Focused Medicine

From a social work perspective, telemedicine will immensely contribute to individualized care. For starters, the social worker can interact privately with the client without interference from other people (Knickman & Elbel, 2019). When a social worker physically visits a client, the neighbors will know about this visit since they saw the social worker. However, with telemedicine, the social worker's visit is private, and only those in the house will know of the video or phone call. Therefore, the care offered to the client is private, and the client can be comfortable receiving care using telemedicine. Chances of the client missing an appointment are reduced as there are no barriers to communication. While telemedicine uses internet technologies, it is a key tool for interacting with clients even when performing their daily activities. When the client has to visit the social worker's office, they will have to drop everything they are doing. However, when using telemedicine, the virtual visit can occur as the client is still performing her daily work.

Barriers to treatment are eliminated. A client will not have a genuine reason not to attend a visit since there are no challenges like traffic or logistical issues. The social worker can attend to numerous clients in a single day compared to when they have to sit in their office and wait for the clients. Even when they go to the community and interact with the clients, much is not shared as it would when in a private session (Adams, Myers, Waddell, Spear, & Schneider, 2020). Using telemedicine, the client would be comfortable talking and interacting with the social worker since no physical presence is required. It has been noted that some clients prefer non-physical sessions where they would be open and free to interact with the social worker. There will be a definite increase in the number of people seeking services when they know they do not physically visit the social worker's office.

Telemedicine For Field Placement

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine would be vital for field placement. There are restrictions on in-person visits, and without an alternative solution, many people will find it hard to access or receive vital services. To increase the number of clients willing to continue receiving services, an alternative is needed, and this is where telemedicine comes into play. The social worker can still offer their services while ensuring they adhere to the COVID-19 regulations. Clients will benefit as they can continue to get the services they require without risking their lives. For remote areas, a social worker might have to visit areas far from their place of work. In remote places, houses and people stay far from each other and visiting such people can be time-consuming. Using telemedicine, the social worker can sit in their office and use technology to interact with the clients. Telemedicine will ensure that the social worker can reach more people in a single day than they could before.

Telemedicine can be a soft landing for most clients. Some clients are shy, and they might not be so forthcoming during a physical meeting. However, the same client can be quite chatty on the phone or when using virtual technology. Therefore, telemedicine can assist in bridging the gap between the client and the social worker (Brigo, Bonavita, Leocani, Tedeschi, & Lavorgna, 2020). In rough or dangerous neighborhoods, social workers can use telemedicine to reach out to clients in need in a safe environment. Not all communities are safe, and instead of neglecting such communities, telemedicine could be used to deliver services to the needy in the communities. The safety of the social worker should be ensured at all times, and working in a hostile environment can result in the social worker losing focus or being demoralized.

The Role of The Social Worker in Implementing Telemedicine

Social workers understand telemedicine better than their clients. The role of the social worker would be first to educate their clients regarding telemedicine (Knickman & Elbel, 2019). Using this information, the social worker can demonstrate the advantages of using the technology and benefit the client. The client's pain points should be addressed, and alternatives are given when the overall mode of delivery might be unavailable. In most cases, the social worker will have to encourage the clients to adopt the new technology. If the clients do not start using telemedicine, it would be useless to try and implement it in the office. Social workers become change champions for their clients. Change champions advocate for the use of technology and the need for change. Increasing awareness and adoption will be the role of the social worker. Awareness is increased by informing the clients about the technology and letting them know how it will improve the client's lives.