Excerpt from Term Paper :

This is necessary to provide a seamless platform on which health solutions can be effectively integrated and deployed. Without using such a platform, the development of electronic health care facilities will be more difficult to deploy. In other words, Tele-health is part of the overall healthcare ICT (Information Communications Technology) solutions that enables healthcare to be pushed out to the edge, for local delivery, and to be more evenly, efficiently and effectively distributed.

Broadband communication is the underlying technology of choice when discussing electronic applications. It is certainly important for inter-healthcare provider communications delivering sufficient bandwidth capacity between sites. The delivery of home care electronic should not rely on the broadband technology is not universally accessible, particularly in rural and remote areas, and it can also be prohibitively expensive. Some broadband technologies can be delivered to remote locations, such as satellite-based technology, but this is impractical and too costly to deliver extensive home care. Broadband connectivity to the home should not be the common denominator in delivering health facilities. Broadband simply means being able to deliver real-time health applications and the ability to send huge amounts of information in a short space of time. Electronic delivery of health care facilities should not be developed that automatically rely on broadband connectivity; as it invariably adds no value to the application. Certainly, in devising any such solutions, the healthcare industry is required to take into consideration those people accessing the services and applications. When designing electronic applications of health care facilities, it becomes necessary to consider how they will be used and who will use them (Puskin, Mintzer, & Wasem, 1997). It is impractical to develop a plethora of equipment doing the same things but designed for different people.

Conclusions

Changing the face of healthcare delivery will take time and a phased approach will be required. There are many steps to follow and challenges to overcome for the successful delivery of health care facilities. In order for the successful implementation of electronic systems to deliver, its capabilities in healthcare facilities new lines of thinking will be required. In sum, in order to cut cost, healthcare industry will have take quick initiatives to adopt technology solutions that allow health care providers to reduce costs while providing high...

Many of the "point applications" purchased in recent years by medical practices have been delivered on stand-alone, proprietary systems that are not compatible. This has resulted in many practices having to manage and navigate several "information silos" to obtain even the simplest information. In many instances, a nurse or administrator must log-on to several applications, and even computers, simultaneously to find the required information (Goldberg, 2002).

With the use of the Internet, however, there is new hope for the development of portals that deliver all health related services from a single point. The application of such systems will allow health care organizations to consolidate applications or data, present the right information to the right people on demand, and collaborate with key stakeholders for a very reasonable price. Finally, when most of the diseases have become global in nature, it becomes necessary that electronic systems should span around the world that can improve the access, quality, safety and efficiency in their healthcare systems. The purpose of such initiatives will be to promote dialogue and the sharing of knowledge, resources and tools, between both developed and developing countries (SC Magazine-Info Security News, 2001). The focus of these activities is to identify the key barriers, workable strategies and imperatives for implementing an interconnected, electronic health information infrastructure to support better health and healthcare.

Ferri, C. & Klein, S. (2000, July/August). Telemedicine: New Modalities Complicate the Legal Balance. MD Computing, 17 (4), 40-42.

References

Goldberg, a. (2002, April 29). Internal Report: Telehealth, Privacy, & Health Care: Review, Expectations & Proposals. Goulston & Storrs, Boston, MA.

Lovata, F. (2000, May 21-24). Telemedicine via the Internet: Successful Program Strategies. American Telemedicine Association Conference,

Puskin, D., Mintzer, C., & Wasem, C. (1997). Chapter 14, Telemedicine: Building Rural Systems for Today and Tomorrow. In P. Brennan, S. Schneider, & E. Tornquist (Eds.), Information Networks for Community Health. (p. 276). Computers in Health Care Series. Springer-Verlag.

Telecommunications: Protecting the Forgotten Frontier.…