[MUSIC] There are various different subdomains of digital health that you've been introduced to, to include mobile applications, wearable technologies, social media and you've understood how the growth in digital health technologies is revolutionizing the delivery of healthcare globally. Here, you'll be introduced to telemedicine and telehealth. While the two terms sound quite similar and are often used interchangeably, they are actually different. Although this is also contended that sometimes telemedicine is referred to as a subset of telehealth or vice versa. Here, we will focus on and understand what they are and how they're used, the benefits of these approaches and the challenges and disadvantages to their use. Telemedicine is referred to as a clinical application of technology while telehealth encompasses a much broader scope of remote healthcare services than telemedicine. Other definitions of telemedicine have defined it as the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve a patient's clinical health status. And other definitions have defined it as the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology. It is described to include a growing variety of applications and services using two-way video, smart phones, wireless tools and other forms of telecommunication technology. And this is used to deliver healthcare to patients who are geographically separated from providers. Telehealth, on the other hand, has been said to refer to a broad collection of electronic and telecommunications technologies that support healthcare delivery and services from distant locations. Telehealth technologies are said to support virtual medical, health and education services. The key distinction between the two is that telemedicine focuses on the practice of medicine using technology to deliver healthcare at a distance. For example, for a medically qualified professional, a physician, in one location using telecommunications infrastructure to deliver care to a patient based at a distant site. Telehealth focuses on the electronic and telecommunications technologies and services used to provide care and services at a distance to that patient. The main types of telehealth applications include, one, live video conferencing. This includes a two-way audio visual link between the patient and the healthcare provider. It is a syncronis form of communication and refers to the real-time delivery of information. Two, store and forward videoconferencing. The transmission of a recorded health history to a health provider. This is usually a specialist. It is an synchronous. Three, remote patient monitoring. This involves the use of connected electronic tools to record personal health and medical data in one location for review by a provider in another location. It is usually at a different time. This one was monitoring is useful for the treatment of chronic conditions and for monitoring patients vital signs and activities at a distance. And four, mobile health, mHealth. This involves the provision of healthcare and public health information provided through mobile devices. Examples of telemedicine include the provision of Home Health Care to those that are chronically ill through home monitoring. Telecute consultations, the knowledge or experience from a healthcare expert from a distance or telemonitoring, supervising the patient for their data from a distance. Telemedicine has widely been used in United Kingdom United States of America, Finland and Germany. In low and middle income countries though, much less effort has been spent in using this approach due to particular challenges that are discussed later, but broadly include limited return on investment, limited budget available and the lack of technological infrastructure. Some of the key advantages of telemedicine and telehealth are improving access to health care and information, particularly for those in remote or hard-to-reach areas, reducing travel and transportation costs, improved efficiency through streamlining processes. For example, reducing referrals, financial savings to both the provider and patient, improve treatment and diagnosis of the patient. For example, it has been reported that telemedicine offers better access to specialists. Other benefits include increased patient engagement and better patient care quality. One of the main disadvantages and challenges to these approaches are availability and cost. These services can be expensive to set up and maintain. Other challenges cited include financing, for example for the equipment, the personnel required for these approaches and technical and training requirements, a lack of integration into existing healthcare services, a lack of or breakdown in the health professional-patient relationship and reduced continuity of care. Issues concerning the quality of information provided, certain types of medical conditions cannot be treated and diagnosed and organizational and bureaucratic difficulties. Challenges specific to lower middle-income countries include the high cost of telehealth services itself, limited resources, unreliable power and poor connectivity. You've now been introduced to telemedicine and telehealth and understood the differences between these two approaches. You've also learned about the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. [MUSIC]
