The Arizona Telemedicine Program Blog

Telemedicine services are rapidly expanding, with many providers realizing that they can expand their reach and revenue by utilizing improved connectivity and convenient technology. Telemedicine takes several forms, including consultation directly in the office, school-based consultation to provide emergency services to students, home video consultations, and even integration of biometric data from a person’s health wearables. While telemedicine is indeed beneficial for all stakeholders, it is equally important for providers to make sure they are well-versed with the entire process before they step into it. In order to offer effective primary care and enable truly coordinate care, providers must consider all the planning element that are part of successful telemedicine ventures.

Here are the important steps to be taken care of when starting telemedicine.

We’ve seen enormous changes in the healthcare industry in recent years, mostly relating to the more efficient storage and usage of patient data through blockchain technology and the digitisation of patient files.

In the past two decades, the growing penetration of technology in the industry has yielded new medical devices, automated treatments, and improved diagnostic processes, giving doctors, scientists and patients renewed hope for the treatment of diseases some of which, until now, have been largely untreatable.

Using telehealth technology still requires good bedside manners - just call it your screenside or webside manners. So what do providers need to know that is different between an in-person encounter compared to a telehealth encounter?  The space involved with making that first impression via telehealth is significantly smaller than meeting in-person in a clinical setting.  Besides being two-dimensional, your space is limited to the size and quality of the monitor projecting your image on the other end of the connection.  You only get one chance to make a first impression – so make it good.

The United States Distance Learning Association, founded in historic Boston in 1987, has grown to become the nation’s leading distance-learning organization.

The USDLA’s members are talented professionals from around the world. They network and share best practices with literally every distance learning constituency, including telehealth; corporate training; basic and higher education; home schoolers; continuing education, government programs, advances in technology, and more. Members collaborate in person and from a distance, with all available modalities, with expertise in videoconferencing, webinars and online learning.  

If you read the morning paper or watch the evening news, you are likely to read or hear an update on the high costs of prescription drugs, emergency room visits and other healthcare essentials. The rising costs are not a new trend, but one that doctors and patients would like to see go away.

The good news is, it’s gradually going away around the country, thanks to another trend called integrated healthcare, established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  

Here’s how it’s been trending in Arizona.