Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Telemedicine: a Primer

  • Telemedicine and Technology (J Portnoy and M Hernandez, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Allergy and Asthma Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

Due to rapid advancements in quality of real-time, interactive, audio-visual, and digital technologies as well as impressive gains in internet speed and capacity, medicine delivered over distance is happening faster than many healthcare providers and leaders can grasp.

Recent Findings

Depending on which market report you ascribe to, industry projections for the global compounded annual growth rate of telemedicine are between 13 and 27%, with valuation growing to over 20 billion US dollars in the next several years. The Mayo Clinic has reworked its entire telemedicine interest to a model with centralized operations, one virtual technology platform, standardized training, and connectedness for all of its locations. The National Quality Forum spent 2016 and 2017 formulating 70 some pages of recommendations for expanded measures to valuate telemedicine over the foreseeable future. There are so many patient experience studies indicating high satisfaction with telemedicine, that professionals in the industry accept it as fact. Telemedicine is leaving novel to the past.

Summary

This short, informative piece of writing includes expert opinion and research findings about what is telemedicine, why one should practice telemedicine, and how one should approach implementation; a primer from which to grow.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as:•• Of major importance

  1. Medicine Merriam-Webster.com2018 [Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicine.

  2. Tele Merriam-Webster2018 [Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tele.

  3. Telehealth Market worth 9.35 Billion USD by 2021 Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India: markets and markets; 2018 [available from: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/telehealth.asp.

  4. Hurst EJ. Evolutions in telemedicine: from smoke signals to mobile health solutions. J Hosp Librariansh. 2016;16(2):174–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Alsup D. Doctor rescued from Antarctica in 1999 dies at 57 [Electronic]. CNN2009 [cited 2018 June 20]. Available from: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/06/23/obit.jerri.nielsen/index.html.

  6. Bashshur R, Shannon G, Krupinski E, Grigsby J. The taxonomy of telemedicine. Telemed J E Health. 2011;17(6):484–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Merriam-Webster [General descriptions obtained from Merriam-Webster]. Available from: https://www.merriam-webster.com/.

  8. Telemedicine Glossary American Telemedicine Association2018 [cited 2018 June 20]. Glossary of telemedicine specific definitions]. Available from: http://thesource.americantelemed.org/resources/telemedicine-glossary.

  9. •• Creating a Framework to Support Measure Development for Telehealth. National Quality Forum; 2017. Excellent guide for those interested in conducting telemedicine research and measures, Areas where there is great opportunity for contribution.

  10. National Quality Forum 2018 [Available from: http://www.qualityforum.org/what_we_do.aspx.

  11. Waibel KH. Synchronous telehealth for outpatient allergy consultations: a 2-year regional experience. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2016;116(6):571–5.e1.

  12. Portnoy JM, Waller M, De Lurgio S, Dinakar C. Telemedicine is as effective as in-person visits for patients with asthma. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2016;117(3):241–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Halterman JS, Fagnano M, Tajon RS, Tremblay P, Wang H, Butz A, et al. Effect of the school-based telemedicine enhanced asthma management (SB-TEAM) program on asthma morbidity: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Pediatr. 2018;172(3):e174938.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Zairina E, Abramson MJ, McDonald CF, Li J, Dharmasiri T, Stewart K, et al. Telehealth to improve asthma control in pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial. Respirology. 2016;21(5):867–74.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. •• Kruse CS, Krowski N, Rodriguez B, Tran L, Vela J, Brooks M. Telehealth and patient satisfaction: a systematic review and narrative analysis. BMJ Open. 2017;7(8):e016242. Comprehensive literature review and analysis of patient satisfaction with telemedicine. Often, those who are not involved with telemedicine assume that patients don’t or won’t want care virtually, however many satisfaction surveys demonstrate the opposite.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Hafner-Fogarty R. Telemedicine regulation: then and now southwesttrc.org: Southwest Telehealth Resource Center; 2016 [Available from: https://southwesttrc.org/blog/2016/telemedicine-regulation-then-and-now.

  17. Field MJ. Telemedicine: a guide to assessing telecommunications in healthcare. J Digit Imaging. 1997;10(3 Suppl 1):28.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Lipson LR, Henderson TM. State initiatives to promote telemedicine. Telemed J. 1996;2(2):109–21.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. State Policy Resource Center [Electronic]. American Telemedicine Association2018 [cited 2018 June 18]. Open access state legislative and regulatory tracker created by and maintained by ATA]. Available from: http://www.americantelemed.org/policy-page/state-policy-resource-center.

  20. Federal Policy Resource American Telemedicine Association 2018 [Available from: http://www.americantelemed.org/policy-page/federal-policy.

  21. State Policy Resource Center American Telemedicine Association 2018 [Available from: http://www.americantelemed.org/policy-page/state-policy-resource-center.

  22. Capistrant LTG. State Telemedicine Gaps Analysis - Coverage and Reimbursement 2017 June 18 2018 [cited 2018 June 18]. Available from: https://thesource.americantelemed.org/viewdocument/2017-state-gaps-analysis-coverage-1.

  23. Capistrant LTG. State Telemedicine Gaps Analysis - Physician Practice Standards and Licensure 2017 June 18 2018 [cited 2018 June 18]. Available from: https://thesource.americantelemed.org/viewdocument/2017-state-gaps-analysis-physician.

  24. Wicklund E. CMS proposes more medicare reimbursement for telehealth, RPM mHealth Intelligence2018 [cited 2018 August, 2nd]. Available from: https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/cms-proposes-more-medicare-reimbursement-for-telehealth-rpm.

  25. Telemedicine services in hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) Baltimore, MD: CMS Survey and Certification Group; 2011 [S&C: 11–32- Hospital/CAH:[Available from: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/downloads/SCLetter11_32.pdf.

  26. Jarmon GL. CMS paid practitioners for telehealth services that did not meet Medicare requirements. In: General DoHaHS-OoI, editor. 2018.

  27. Ellison A. 15 things to know about Stark Law Becker's Hospital Review2017 [Available from: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/15-things-to-know-about-stark-law-021717.html.

  28. Worldometers 2018 [Available from: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/.

  29. Jarmon G. CMS paid practitioners for telehealth services that did not meet Medicare requirements. Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Inspector General; 2018.

  30. Transforming Health Care for Patients: 2017 Policy priorities. American Telemedicine Association: American Telemedicine Association; 2017.

  31. Lawrence M. Telemedicine brings care to children and improves outcomes—a Q&A with Morgan Waller of Children’s Mercy Hospital theworkspacetoday.com2014 [Available from: http://theworkspacetoday.com/2014/10/14/telemedicine-brings-care-children-improves-outcomes-qa-morgan-waller-childrens-mercy-hospital/.

  32. Kreofsky BLH, Blegen RN, Lokken TG, Kapraun SM, Bushman MS, Demaerschalk BM. Sustainable telemedicine: designing and building infrastructure to support a comprehensive telemedicine practice. Telemed J E Health. 2018;

  33. Effertz GA, Dale C, Dion D, Duffy V, Noon C, Langell K, et al. Sustaining and expanding telehealth: a survey of business models from selected prominent U.S. Telehealth centers. Telemedicine and e-Health. 2017;23(2):137–42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Parker CB. $22M grant awarded for telemedicine ucdavis.edu2007 [Available from: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/22m-grant-awarded-telemedicine.

  35. Center for Health and Technology www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu2018 [Available from: https://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/cht/clinic/index.html.

  36. Hall RW, Hall-Barrow J, Garcia-Rill E. Neonatal regionalization through telemedicine using a community based research and education Core Facility. Ethn Dis. 2010;20(1 0 1):S1-136–40.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Bronstein JM, Ounpraseuth S, Jonkman J, Fletcher D, Nugent RR, McGhee J, et al. Use of specialty OB consults during high-risk pregnancies in a Medicaid-covered population: initial impact of the Arkansas ANGELS intervention. Med Care Res Rev. 2012;69(6):699–720.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Best Practices Archives- Arkansas's ANGELS Program telehealthpolicy.us: Center for Connected Health Policy—The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center; 2018 [Available from: http://www.telehealthpolicy.us/best-practices-archives-arkansass-angels-program.

  39. Portnoy J, Waller M, Dinakar C. TeleAllergy: a new way to manage asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2015;3(2):302–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Telemedicine childrensmercy.org2018 [Available from: https://www.childrensmercy.org/Telemedicine/.

  41. Connect Care intermountainhealthcare.org2018 [Available from: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/urgent-care/connect-care/.

  42. Philip S. Telehealth under alternative payment models milliman.com: Milliman; 2017 [Available from: http://www.milliman.com/insight/2015/Telehealth-under-alternative-payment-models/.

  43. Derrickson RC. The rewards of telemedicine investments for ACOs—how integrating telemedicine helps fulfill your accountable care organization’s mission to transform care: advance healthcare network, an Elite CE Company; 2016 [Available from: http://health-system-management.advanceweb.com/the-rewards-of-telemedicine-investments-for-acos/.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, Children’s Mercy, Kansas City, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA

    Morgan Waller & Chad Stotler

Authors
  1. Morgan Waller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Chad Stotler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chad Stotler.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

This article is part of the Topical Collection on Telemedicine and Technology

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Waller, M., Stotler, C. Telemedicine: a Primer. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 18, 54 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-018-0808-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-018-0808-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation