Telemedicine: The plan and privacy

As indicated, last week, there is a big push on governmentally and health insurance industry wide, to reduce the cost of delivering health-care while expanding the level of service.

Until now, there has been reluctance on the part of the health-care industry to spend money on expensive new technology today that could possibly minimize the ever-growing cost of health care tomorrow.

Ironically, since the healthcare reform process that the Obama administration passed has been implemented, there has been a residual effect in that it has prompted the health insurance industry to rethink their negative attitudes and begin to really consider the new telemedicine agenda.

Technology companies like Intel and General Electric have been actively pursuing the creation of home health-care monitoring system’s that would have the ability to transmits data from devices like blood-pressure cuffs and glucose meters directly over the Internet.

Google and IBM are throwing their hats in the ring, as they too are developing telemedicine solutions in home systems that will have Internet data transmission capabilities.

The overall aim of this new partnership between the technology companies and the health insurance industry is to create technology that will guarantee and provide a real life interaction between patients and doctors over the Internet.

It would seem the health insurance industry is finally ready to accept a nontraditional delivery system and to loosen their purse strings, kicking out a few big bucks to get the telemedicine process started along with the government, and both believe that remote monitoring technology is just the right fit to increase the degree of medical services, while at the same time decreasing the cost.

So, how does this new system work? When looking at the overall layout of this new technology, it is clear that most of it is already readily available and will only need to be modified to fit the proposed medical agenda.

The system will use high-definition cameras and monitors in a telepresence format that will create an experience between the doctor and patient that will be much like that of a visual conference call.

A certified, trained medical professional, along with an IT technician, will be the onsite presence at the patient’s residence along with the monitoring and telecommunications equipment that will be set up to connect with the same type of equipment back at the doctor’s office.

There is also another telemedicine solution that is a small telepresence room or pod that can be driven to any location and have patients be seen on the mobile unit or a pod that can be moved, inside a medical facility, from room to room.

Once all is connected, there will be an online link between the physician and the patient and it is hoped the experience will be very intimate to the degree that the patient will feel like he or she is in the same room with their physician.

That intimacy is where we look at the issue of privacy and the fact that it is not really possible, at this point, to address the issue of privacy since this can only be accurately dealt with once the telemedicine technology is in place and being used on a broad basis.

Again, the hope is that the aspect of intimacy will impart the same feeling of privacy that is now felt by a patient when addressing medical and health concerns in the physician’s actual office, but only the implementation of the technology and patient response will tell us how the issue of privacy is perceived.

There are various telemedicine systems being used in test modes throughout the country, by various health insurance groups and technology companies, with the ongoing monitoring of the new technologies efficiency, cost effectiveness and how the test group of patients perceives this new method of delivering health care.

The majority of the testing is being done in areas where there is limited access to adequate health care or rural areas where the travel distance in receiving health-care services can be problematic.

Yet, to date, there has not been a release of any information or statistics regarding how the process is being perceived by the patients as well as how the new technology is functioning.

Is there a doctor in the house? Oh, yes there is and the doctor is on your computer asking you to, “please bend over and cough”!

How do you feel about this brave new world of technology and health care?

- Andino Ward

Is telemedicine about to become a reality?

As we all know, there is an ongoing debate and battle over health care and the recently passed health-care bill.

The issue of health care and the new bill continues to be ever present and apparent in the national media and the political arena as well.

Now, there is a new anomaly that is working its way into the health-care debate and if it should become a reality, could add a whole new dimension to the debate and how health-care services will be delivered to the consumer and the costs associated with health insurance providers.

The new anomaly to which I am referring is "telemedicine" and many experts in the field of health care are expressing their feelings that telemedicine's time has come.

Over the last 10 years, technology companies have been expressing an exaggerated interest in the potential implementation of virtual technology that would permit physicians to remotely examine and monitor patients without having to actually be onsite or have the patient come into the office.

It should be clearly understood that the technology used to provide telemedicine is very expensive and, as a result of the cost, from a business perspective, makes it difficult to really take seriously.

However, all of this is about to change as recent developments regarding the health-care system and the governmental feeling that it is broken have sparked a newfound desire to find various means and ways to fix the system.

Thus, the Washington, D.C., power brokers and lawmakers are now revisiting the aspect of technologies like high-definition video conferencing and telepresence.

One of the major players in the direction of this new health-care technology is Cisco, which has developed a system called HealthPresence, which has the ability to allow a physician to examine and treat a patient remotely using the physician's system in the process.

This new system has come about as a result of the partnership that has taken place between technology superstar Cisco and the health insurer UnitedHealth Group.

As a result of the partnership, the two entities, using the new technology called HealthPresence, will direct its focus on providing remote care to people who live in remote and under-served areas of the country and eventually the world as well as.

Even though, the cost of this new technology is a big concern as is seen in the $300,000 price tag on the Cisco system, there is also the expense associated with the fact that these systems require the use of high-definition audio and video equipment and need a significant amount of bandwidth to function properly as the entire process is one that will be transmitted over the internet.

Yet, when you look at the fact that Washington lawmakers and the health-care industry, do all agree that if something is not done to stem the rising cost of health care, the ever increasing costs could very well cripple the nation, it is obvious why they are seeking and willing to consider nontraditional solutions like telemedicine.

We will take a look at some of the concerns regarding deployment of the new technology and the overall concern of patient privacy as it relates to this new frontier next week.

- Andino Ward