Question

Describe the history of telemedicine in healthcare organization? Please cite the source ( at least 600 words)

Answer 1

The remote delivery of healthcare can be termed as telemedicine. Telemedicine and telehealth can also be used synonymously and the capabilities of the system may include advice, care, intervention, diagnosis, education, remote consultations, and monitoring. According to the World Health Organization, telemedicine includes all the aspects of healthcare (including preventive care). Telemedicine today may include emergency care (as in maritime and aircraft emergencies), telenutrition, telenursing, tele-pharmacy, teledentistry, teleneuropsychology, teleradiology, telerehabilitation, telecardiology, teletrauma care, teleaudiology, telepsychiatry, telepathology, telesurgery, and teledermatology among others.

Attempts towards establishing rudimentary communication networks between human settlements to establish connectivity between priests/physicians and patients have been found to exist even in ancient times. Wired health consultations began with the advent of the telephone by Graham Bell and he used the telephone in the year 1876 (Rassmussen et al)¹ for calling his assistant Watson. The call was for health reasons as Bell accidentally split some acid on his trousers. An anonymous source reported in “The Lancet” that a doctor diagnosed a child successfully in late-night on the telephone. Telegraphs were used extensively during the American Civil War for providing medical care and advice to soldiers and for delivering the mortality related lists.

In the year 1905, Willem Einthoven, a Dutch physician transferred electrocardiogram over a long distance. This event can be termed as the origin of telemedicine. Later, radio communications and consultations connected medical centers in countries like France, Italy, and Norway to patients traveling through sea ships and/or based at remote islands. Hence the use of radio communications for healthcare became quite common in the years between 1920 and 1940, and after. Radiographic images were transferred for the first time in the United States in the cities located in Pennsylvania (Rassmussen et al)¹ and Canada soon follow suit. The United States also had the first well organized and communicated telemedicine programs later on.

Wireless communication in the form of radio boosted the effectiveness and scope of telemedicine and telehealth. Radio was used for delivering healthcare to remote and rural areas. One example of a distant healthcare organization was the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Australia that adopted the radios to a great extent for delivering healthcare.

The use of telemedicine expanded further after the mid-1900s. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had to build the telemedicine capabilities into the space crafts and in the very fast space suits as well. The Nebraska Psychiatric Institute used the two-way television communication links with the Norfolk State Hospital (approx. 112 kilometers away). The project was aimed at boosting consultations and education between clinicians working at two different locations. The first telemedicine clinic was founded in the year 1967 at the Massachusetts General Hospital. The hospital was also linked to the Logan International Airport so that the physicians at the hospitals can also provide advice to patients at the airport. The Department of Health in the United States approved funding of many telemedicine projects in the different states of the country in the year 1972.

Post the 1980s, telemedicine entered into a more mature phase. NASA launched the satellite-based programs for the purposes related to telemedicine and also tried to improve health services in the developing countries.

MedPhone Corporation, an American Company, established the first telemedicine system that could be used for remotely diagnosing as well as treating patients that required cardiac resuscitation in the year 1989. Telemedicine received a major boost with the advent of web world-wide-web and internet. The fast and comprehensive adoption of information and communication technology in institutions and healthcare organizations improved the scope of telemedicine. Internet of things and smart home technologies also add to the effectiveness of telemedicine. Healthcare organizations are nowadays experimenting with cloud-based technology avenues, self-tracking methods, and new data analytic methods to further improve the scope of telemedicine. Government regulations and acts also supported the growth of telemedicine. For instance, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009, and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) supported the growth of technology in healthcare and implemented provisions for electronic health records. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was implemented in the year 2010, under which organizations that could provide for the development of better telemedicine capabilities were created.

References

1. Rassmussen et al, Peter A. Telemedicine: Past, present, and future. December. 2018. https://www.nuemd.com/news/2017/01/04/quick-look-history-telemedicine
2. Rupp, Scott. “A Quick Look at The History of Telemedicine”. NueMd.4 January. 2017, https://www.mdedge.com/ccjm/article/189759/practice-management/telemedicine-past-present-and-future