Pros and Cons of Telehealth
Abstract
By utilizing technology to close accessibility gaps, enhance patient outcomes, and lower costs, telehealth has become a game-changing innovation in the healthcare industry. This essay examines the advantages and disadvantages of telehealth, looking at its development, advantages, difficulties, and potential future effects. Telehealth was quickly adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating its potential to increase disadvantaged populations' access to care, improve patient and provider convenience, and increase the effectiveness of chronic illness management. Wearable technology and mobile health apps are two examples of technological developments that have further incorporated telehealth into contemporary healthcare paradigms like value-based care.
But there are still major obstacles. Its reach in underserved communities is limited by technological obstacles like digital literacy problems and infrastructure shortages. Concerns about patient confidentiality and data security raise serious ethical and privacy issues. While clinical restrictions underscore telehealth's diminished efficacy for illnesses needing physical examinations, regulatory obstacles, such as cross-state licensure limitations, hamper its wider implementation. Case studies demonstrating telehealth's effectiveness during the pandemic and its uses in treating complicated illnesses like geriatric depression and autism are also included in this study. Lastly, it describes the significance of telehealth in the global transformation of healthcare and offers suggestions for removing current obstacles. Telehealth has the potential to be a vital component of sustainable and equitable healthcare delivery on a global scale if its advantages are balanced with its drawbacks.
Year Manuscript Completed
Fall 2024
Senior Project Advisor
Mr. Scott Douglas
Degree Awarded
Bachelor of Integrated Studies Degree
Field of Study
Health Care Administration
Document Type
Thesis
Recommended Citation
Allen, Paige, "Pros and Cons of Telehealth" (2024). Integrated Studies. 605.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/bis437/605