ALM202 Quantified Media - A2 Digital Media Portfolio Exercise - Assignment Help

Introduction

Telehealth is a revolutionary change in the healthcare sector that has attracted internal attention and interest over the past couple of years. Many people believe that telehealth has the potential to improve the cost-effectiveness, safety, quality and convenience of healthcare (Commission, 2008 Commission, 2009). Following the same premise, it has been argued that ageing populations increasingly suffer from chronic illnesses that can no longer be addressed by the traditional models of healthcare and service delivery (WHO, 2011; Lopez, et al., 2006; Mathers & Loncar, 2006). The healthcare system of Australia has been under the economic pressure to work out effective solutions for the treatments of the ageing populations in the comfort of their own homes. The aged population of Australia has become subject to chronic diseases and illnesses, making frequent visits to the hospital difficult. In order to cut down on the number of hospitalizations and hospital visitations, the healthcare system of Australia has been economically pressurized to provide premium care and health services to the patients in the comfortable environments of their homes (McKinstry, Pinnock, & Sheikh, 2009; McLean & Sheikh, 2009)

Telehealth is a revolutionary change in the healthcare service delivery that aims at providing premium quality healthcare services over a distance (McLean, Protti, & Sheikh, 2011). With the use of information and communication technology (ICT), the interaction enabled between the healthcare provider and the patient over a distance is personalized. ICT plays a very important role in the provision of personalized healthcare services to the patients at remote locations in the field of telehealth. The emergence of telehealth has enabled the healthcare practitioners to keep a thorough check on the patients and monitor their health through electronic mediums. Telehealth is both, asynchronous and synchronous. In Australia, asynchronous telehealth enables the healthcare practitioners to monitor the progress of their patients through store-and-forward techniques and email. In contrast, synchronous telehealth is real-time, and allows the healthcare provider to interact with the patient over telephone or via videoconferencing. 

Telehealth has received considerable interest and laud since its emergence. There is a hype in the healthcare industry of Australia that revolves around the potential of telehealth to cut down on the costs associated with healthcare and service delivery. In addition, the healthcare industry of Australia has also endorsed and promoted the idea of telehealth because it is believed to improve the health of the patients. Despite the elevating interest in telehealth, the scientific evidence supporting the revolutionary idea of providing consultations and healthcare services to the community over a distance is not adequately scrutinized. Following a reduction in the utilization of traditional healthcare services, telehealth is assumed to be high in quality and efficiency. For instance, telehealth replaces the in-person consultations with the remote ones. In addition, monitoring the patients through telehealth often reduces the amount of emergency visits to the hospital. Besides, there is a substantial reduction in the number of hospitalizations.