Remote Healthcare Monitoring and Observations
Pros and Cons
Remote healthcare monitoring, also known as remote medical monitoring or remote patient monitoring, refers to the clinical measurement and monitoring of a patient’s general health condition without them having to be present in front of a healthcare professional or even in front of a computerized healthcare system. The primary difference between this system and traditional healthcare is that a remotely located healthcare professional can access and view a patient’s medical history at any time they deem fit. They can also request an update on the status of a particular disease or condition at any time of day or night. As well as this, an artificial intelligence system is used to constantly update the status of the patients on their condition from anywhere in the world.
Remote healthcare monitoring is beneficial to both patients and healthcare professionals alike. Firstly, patients no longer need to make a physical visit to their physician in order to provide detailed medical information to a provider. With remote medical monitoring, physicians can obtain up to date detailed information through artificial intelligence and then easily upload it to their computer for a patient to view then or even later. However, this same artificially intelligent system can prevent doctors from providing treatments for certain conditions and prescribe treatments for other patients if the information provided is not sufficient, accurate, or precise.
In addition to this, remote patient monitoring has several pros and cons.
Main Pros:
One of the main pros is that remote monitoring is not only easier and more cost effective than traditional healthcare, but it is also much more consistent. It allows for the monitoring of patients without the need to visit the offices of each healthcare professional individually. As well as this, with the use of artificial intelligence, healthcare professionals can start to analyze, interpret, and predict a full picture of the future medical necessity of a patient. This helps them to anticipate changes to physician -patient interactions that may otherwise be unforeseen.
Another pro is changes to healthcare technology means that telemedicine will likely become increasingly popular. Telemedicine refers to the use of telephone voice interaction or electronic messaging to exchange information between healthcare professionals and their patient. This process is particularly useful for physicians who offer prescription medication over the telephone or who offer advice on physical therapy, diet or other healthcare services. With telemedicine, health care professionals can exchange information about a patient’s condition or symptoms with anyone around the world, wherever that person may be.
Physician and patient safety are also pros of remote healthcare monitoring. For a large number of patients, it may not be viable or safe to leave their homes, no more evident than in the Covid19 pandemic. Because all the data that is necessary for making reliable diagnoses can be downloaded onto a computer, healthcare professionals are better able to provide accurate diagnosis and treatments for patients. This means that doctors and other specialists are able to prescribe the right treatment for a particular patient, as well as giving personalized care for those in pain. Telemedicine provides healthcare providers with the ability to offer preventative services that keep patients healthy.
Main Cons:
One of the main cons associated with remote patient monitoring is the lack of expertise that is required to operate and interpret the technology. Therefore, some healthcare providers may not be comfortable or even reluctant in adopting and operating such sophisticated technology. Similar to the first, another con may be on the patient adoption side. Some patients may be reluctant to adopt a remote monitoring healthcare approach. This could be due to several factors such as a access to internet and connected devices, distrust in technology to religious beliefs. Some patients will continue to prefer a brick and mortar visit to their primary physicians.
Another the major challenges in implementing artificial intelligence into healthcare systems is the language barrier issue. Since most healthcare workers speak different languages, it would be difficult to interact with them using traditional technologies. Hence, healthcare companies are working towards translation tools which can facilitate interaction with patients. Translation tools, such as those currently being implemented by VOLA’s system are available in a variety of applications from simple voice recognition to complex speech translation.
Another con important to note that not every medical professional who uses teleconferencing or video conferencing system will take advantage of all the benefits it provides. This is why it is so important for a telemedicine course to provide a solid course of instruction in basic computer skills. A course provides training in using computer related technologies and providing instruction in basic office practices. The course also teaches students how to conduct telephone communication and how to use the appropriate software for office practice. A good course provides information on patient safety and office practices, as well as the legal issues that surround remote healthcare monitoring.
Overview:
In conclusion, there are both pros and cons with remote healthcare monitoring, as with any new technology adoption and implementation. The main advantage with this new remote patient monitoring technology is that it provides an all-round solution to the monitoring needs of healthcare units. Not only does this technology help in saving resources, but also reduces the chances of data corruption due to multiple transmission speeds and transmission frequencies. Another major advantage is that it provides a higher level of security to medical units or misused for any other purpose. Remote monitoring devices are the latest inventions in medical technology and are proving extremely useful to the physicians, nurses and other medical staff.