Telehealth, telecare, telemedicine and assistive technologies are among the many terms tossed around in the health industry.  These terms tend to confuse people as they sound similar in what they achieve, however, there is very little overlap with each term. Based on international trends, VPH' Telehealth will focus on telehealth as the process of allowing health care providers to remotely monitor long term conditions to establish whether an intervention is necessary.  

Globally there is an increased demand on acute hospitalisation of the aged and long term chronically ill population. People with long term conditions often do not comply with their medication and are not optimally managed by their GP provider on high face-to-face consultation rates. Chronic illness is the biggest burden in healthcare spending in New Zealand. Traditional models of servicing patients across primary and secondary care are proving untenable – particularly  when requiring emergency attention or in areas where there is a shortage of Specialists and GPs. 

There is a need to maintain provision of quality care to the patient in their home while encouraging them to be more aware of their own symptoms to effectively manage chronic conditions. International and national trends suggest this can be achieved through consumer based mobile phones and wireless based smart home devices. Telehealth based wireless devices have demonstrated the potential in effectively monitoring and managing long-term conditions such as blood pressure, congestive heart failure, diabetes and COPD allowing for reduced hospitalisation and emergency care business cases. 

Telehealth involves transmitting results to a remote medical centre to be analysed by health professionals. With the proliferation of mobile phones and the uptake of the internet, which has fundamentally changed how businesses and people communicate, communication costs have dropped to make cell phones highly accessible and the internet readily available across all demographics. 

Telehealth is allowing health organisations to do more with less and support a greater number of patients. The phenomenon is helping to improve health outcomes and ensure the best use of the healthcare resources.

Telehealth brings a win-win situation for all stakeholders involved in the journey of care, including hospitals, GPs, community providers and patients. For the patient, improving their health includes: more accurate titration of medication, improved medication compliance, increased understanding and responsibility of their condition, and reduced travel barriers.