e-health

e-health, use of digital technologies and telecommunications, such as computers, the Internet, and mobile devices, to facilitate health improvement and health care services. E-health is often used alongside traditional “off-line” (non-digital) approaches for the delivery of information directed to the patient and the health care consumer.

The need for e-health

E-health grew out of a need for improved documentation and tracking of patients’ health and procedures performed on patients, particularly for reimbursement purposes, such as by insurance companies. Traditionally, health care providers kept paper records on the history and status of their patients. However, rising health care costs and technological advances encouraged the development of electronic tracking systems. As e-health technologies continued to be developed, the field of telemedicine, in which telecommunication technologies are used to provide health care remotely, emerged.

E-health technologies

E-health makes use of a wide array of digital technologies. The Internet, for example, allows e-health users to communicate with health care professionals by e-mail, to access medical records, to research health information, and to engage in person-to-person exchange of text, audio, video, and other data. Interactive TV, also known as polycom, provides both audio and visual transfer of a variety of information between two or more individuals at two or more locations in real time. Kiosks, which are freestanding devices (usually computers), are used in e-health to provide interactive information to the user. Most information is provided through a series of interactive prompts on a touch screen. Kiosks can also be used to collect data and information from users. DVDs, USB flash drives, and other media are used to store data digitally. Many modern mobile devices are designed with personal computing and Internet capabilities and are compatible with downloadable applications (or apps) that allow users to instantly access health information. Many of the technologies employed in e-health are accessible to all users, including those with impairments such as blindness or deafness.

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Benefits and barriers

There are benefits and barriers to both providers and consumers who use e-health. Beneficial impacts include the use by physicians of computerized drug-ordering systems that can reduce the risk of adverse drug events through decision support systems. Similarly, automated computerized reminders can increase orders for recommended prevention interventions such as yearly physicals, mammograms, and prostate examinations. In more extreme situations, e-health has been used by emergency medical personnel and first responders for consultation during natural disasters and in military battlefield situations. In rural and remote areas this technology has been used by primary care providers to provide consultations for patients through direct linkage to urban-based specialists. E-health has also been used as a distance education strategy for primary and continuing education. International collaborative initiatives have benefited from advances in e-health by making information readily available to health care professionals and consumers.

Consumer benefits from advances in e-health include, for example, the ability to order prescriptions over the Internet for direct delivery to the home. Hospitals and other acute care institutions host Web pages that detail their expertise and services for patients. E-health has also benefited persons with disabilities who reside in the community by permitting provider-patient communication through text, audio, or video conferencing to gauge home-based progress.

Barriers to the use of e-health by health care providers include a lack of financial incentives and a lack of reimbursement to support its use within and across organizations. In addition, the initial incorporation of new e-health technologies often slows established processes (due to the learning curve needed to implement new tools and devices) before the more-streamlined system is established. Other barriers to e-health technology include costs, such as those associated with hardware and software purchases and maintenance and upgrades, and the lack of standards concerning the format and content of e-health information, particularly private patient health-related information, which has legal and economic implications for providers with regard to liability and malpractice insurance.

One of the largest barriers to widespread consumer use of e-health is the so-called digital divide. The digital divide can be defined as a disparity in access to digital technologies, particularly the Internet. Whereas people on one side of the divide have access to those technologies and possess the knowledge needed to use them, people on the other side of the divide typically do not. Although access to electronic communications is steadily increasing in both developed and less-developed countries, the increases are not uniform, and disparities in availability and skill level persist. Issues such as cost, literacy level, cultural appropriateness, and compliance with standards for those with disabilities (e.g., Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) are significant barriers in the use of e-health. Other issues include those associated with the protection of privacy and confidentiality and informed consent, as well as those related to the ease of e-health technologies.

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