Advantage
The main benefits of Telehealth can be summarized as follows:
- Better access to health services.
- Access to better medical care.
- Better communication among health professionals.
- More affordable continuing education.
- Better access to information.
- Better use of resources.
- Costs reduction.
Better access to health services:
It is possible to provide health services in settings where there is no other alternative than communication technologies. Specialized care is brought closer to remote areas where there are scarce health resources, avoiding travel, and improving accessibility and equity.
Access to better healthcare:
Unnecessary referrals can be avoided through contact between centers and levels of care, which means an improvement in the quality of service. Even in urban areas, it is possible and advantageous to speed up administrative and support processes (appointments, sending reports, etc.) for greater speed and precision in treatments.
Better communication between health professionals:
Patient information, such as clinical history, examinations, and observations made by doctors, is easily transmitted electronically, using different protocols and technologies such as email. Digital communication allows health information to be more complete, updated, and accurate. Thanks to this, health professionals will have the possibility to consult specialists without having to travel.
More affordable continuing education:
It is a fundamental tool in distance training and continuing education programs, as well as for the exchange of information and scientific productions. Doctors will attend, for example, surgical interventions performed anywhere in the world and even communicated directly with the surgeon.
Better access to information:
It allows the immediate exchange of any information (video, voice, data, graphics, or any other type of facility). So that users, with the help of the system, can remotely share database facilities or multimedia technologies. The danger of image loss is also reduced.
Better use of resources:
It is not economical to have the same resources in all centers and not to use them frequently. It is better to have a small pool of resources but use Telehealth to use its full potential. It is then possible to carry out radiological examinations, diagnose and treat dermatological problems in places where there is no dermatologist, analyze cardiological and hemodynamic studies, etc.
Costs reduction:
There is a benefit for the economy with the savings in time and costs: in the transport of the sick, in the transport of doctors and specialists. And it is expected that the continuous decrease observed in the price of equipment and the cheaper telecommunication services favor a positive evolution, over time, of their cost-benefit relation.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of Telehealth include the following:
- Poor doctor-patient relationship
- Impersonal technology
- Interrupted organization
- Need for additional training
- Difficulty in protocol development
- Quality of health information uncertain
Little doctor-patient relationship:
Patients worry about the suitability of the equipment and the reliability of the practice, and both patients and doctors have reservations about the possibilities of lawsuits.
Impersonal technology:
There are patients and even health professionals who resist the use of technology. This incidence is more common in elderly people, especially because its management is not mastered, but with careful preparation, these difficulties can be reduced.
Organization interrupted:
The continuous creation of new technologies and working methods lead to a kind of interference and concern about the short and long-term consequences of the application of Telehealth. It is feared that the technology will become obsolete, that the skills to operate it will not be available and that training will be necessary.
Need for additional training:
Education and training are key pieces for a successful Telehealth therapy. Both are requirements that must be continually considered as the system develops, and staff is hired. This training includes the use of the equipment, the teleconsultation process, and elaborating the appropriate documents for these tasks and the registration of the consultation procedures.
Difficulty in developing the protocol:
The development of the protocol to follow is one of the most important aspects at the beginning of a telemedical application and takes the most time to carry out. The fact that it is the result of a multidisciplinary group and diverse points of view are integrated is a strength, but the inequality of the participants (e.g., doctors and nurses) and the logistical difficulties in getting a staff that works together are some of the weaknesses.
Quality of health information uncertain:
For the Tele-education sector, the fact that much of the information obtained is of concern,
the Internet does not have regulations that allow knowing that it has truthful data. Further,
the confidentiality of information obtained from patients may be somewhat lost.
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