Wyoming Distance Learning Center

Learn About Telehealth

For a more detailed look and complete list of benefits that Telehealth and Telemedicine provide to the citizens of Wyoming, please download the Value of Telemedicine/Telehealth to Various Stakeholder Groups report.

Background

The expanded use of telemedicine/telehealth to deliver healthcare to the citizens of Wyoming offers a number of benefits, including increased access to care, treating patients in their local communities, the potential for increased economic development , and savings in time and travel related costs.

Definition

Telemedicine is the use of medical information exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to improve patients’ health status. Closely associated with telemedicine is the term “telehealth,” which is often used to encompass a broader definition of remote healthcare that does not always involve clinical services. Videoconferencing, transmission of still images, e-health including patient portals, remote monitoring of vital signs, continuing medical education and nursing call centers are all considered part of telemedicine and telehealth.[1]

Telemedicine is not a separate medical specialty. It is a tool to extend the traditional practice of medicine outside the walls of the typical medical practice or hospital.[2]

Benefits

Historically, telehealth services in Wyoming focused on educational and administrative activities.  However, the implementation of clinical services has become a priority.  The delivery of educational, administrative, and clinical services through telehealth provides a number of benefits to Wyoming:

• Improved access to care in remote areas
• Improved access to specialists
• Keeping  financial resources in local communities
• Savings in time, travel, related costs
• Improved home health care and remote monitoring
• Improved collaboration among providers
• Improved accuracy of diagnoses/reduction of errors
• Improved provider efficiency
• Better access to medical education/training.

Common/popular uses of Telehealth

• A specialist participating in a remote consult with a family physician to assist with a diagnosis
• A family physician facilitating a consultation with a specialist by transmitting radiology images and/or video along with patient data to a specialist for viewing
• Patients and health professionals sharing audio, video and remotely captured medical data to design or monitor treatment plans, verify prescription refills or provide advice
• Using devices to remotely collect and send data to a monitoring station for interpretation, such as telemetry devices that capture a specific vital sign (blood pressure, glucose, ECG or weight), and to supplement the use of visiting nurses
• Medical education and mentoring, such as the provision of continuing medical education credits, special medical education seminars for targeted groups, and/or interactive expert advice during a medical procedure
• Utilization of the Internet by consumers to obtain specialized health information or to access online discussion groups and peer-to-peer support.[3]

Telehealth/telemedicine services are delivered in various ways, including as networked programs linking hospitals, point-to-point service deliveries, telehealth monitoring, telehealth homecare services, and web based patient and provider services.