Telehealth
Telehealth is the remote delivery of health care to a patient through technology.1 While this concept may seem simple, it encompasses many categories of services, including remote doctor’s visits and patient counseling, the electronic transmission of treatment information, remote patient monitoring, and mobile applications designed to assist patients in their treatment.2 Telemedicine also includes healthcare infrastructure, such as the improvement and spread of electronic health records and the use of digital prescriptions.3 These methods can often synergize with traditional forms of medicine to lower costs and improve treatment for patients. For example, for the 25 percent of Americans with multiple chronic conditions, who often require frequent checkups and monitoring by doctors, remote patient counseling can reduce the burdens of frequent contact with doctors by interspersing in-person visits with remote ones.4 While telemedicine therefore encompasses many categories of healthcare, it generally involves using technology to lower barriers to access and streamline the provision of healthcare.
Tim O'Shea
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. 2022; George Mason University, B.A. 2019, Government and International Politics.