Respond to the post, stating whether you agree or disagree with the implications they described, why you agree or disagree, and at least one implication or consideration they did not mention.
Since Covid hit, a big trend in healthcare has been telemedicine in clinics. Telemedicine is an appointment between a patient and their provider via video or audio, such as zoom or a telephone call. Benefits of telehealth include infection control, comfort and convenience, and better assessments (Hasselfeld, 2022). If appointments are virtual there is no need to disinfect a room because the patient was not physically there. You are also avoiding the risk of spreading infections such as covid. Telehealth visits are more convenient because you won’t have to block off a part of your day to travel to the healthcare facility. Providers can also assess your home life during a video appointment. You may be able to assess a patient’s risk for domestic violence by their body language when they are at home or around certain people.
These implications affect a facility’s finances because they are able to save money in certain areas. There is less money allotted to cleaning supplies as well as PPE for the staff because there are physically no patients in the building. There would also be less money allotted to PTO for employees that call in sick due to exposure. In hospitals there are video monitoring devices for patients that need continuous monitoring. This device has replaced the need for a physical body in the room. Due to the current staffing shortage in healthcare Telehealth enables providers to offer the same services that are available in person (Jin et al., 2020).
