Problem: Respond to your colleague's posting in the following way:
Share an insight that you gained from having read your colleague's initial post.
Add references and in-text citation
Sujan
Expanding telemedicine is a big challenge for healthcare policy, especially when it comes to fair reimbursement, reliable digital access, and strong privacy protections. Ohannessian et al. (2020) found that telemedicine use increased rapidly during COVID-19 because it helped patients and clinicians avoid travel and reduce exposure risks. In the United States, this growth was made possible by temporary changes to regulations. In the future, telemedicine should be a standard, reimbursed part of healthcare, not just something used in emergencies.
Telemedicine offers many benefits. It cuts down on unnecessary travel, reduces missed appointments, and helps prevent people from using emergency departments for issues that can be managed remotely. This can lower costs for certain conditions. Wearable devices and virtual check-ins also make it easier to catch problems early in people with chronic diseases. Iqbal et al. (2021) note that using real-time data from these devices can make patient monitoring and care more effective. Still, telemedicine has its limits. It works best as an addition to traditional healthcare, not a replacement. In-person exams, lab tests, medical procedures, and emergency care are still needed when necessary.
The biggest barrier to wider telehealth use is unclear insurance reimbursement, which can put healthcare organizations at risk. Other challenges include slow internet, limited digital skills, lack of language support, and concerns about security and privacy. These problems make health disparities worse for people with low incomes, older adults, rural residents, and those who are not fluent in English. Hardcastle and Ogbogu (2020) note that telehealth can both improve and worsen health equity. To address these issues, lawmakers should strengthen privacy protections, improve digital access, and set clear reimbursement rules.
There are six main groups involved in healthcare. Medical administrators face challenges like changing processes and dealing with compliance risks, while patients and clinicians can benefit a lot from telemedicine. Data security is very important because breaches can harm organizations and put privacy at risk, as Seh et al. (2020) point out.
There are good legal, ethical, and practical reasons to support fair telemedicine policies. In practice, telemedicine can improve care for people with chronic diseases. Ethically, healthcare leaders should work to prevent digital exclusion and make services more accessible. Legally, organizations must follow strict patient privacy rules. The following four recommendations for lawmakers and insurers aim to make telemedicine more accessible while protecting equity, privacy, and quality of care. Need Assignment Help?
References:
- Hardcastle, L., & Ogbogu, U. (2020). Virtual care: Enhancing access or harming care? Healthcare Management Forum, 33(6), 288-292.
- Iqbal, S. M. A., Mahgoub, I., Du, S., Leavitt, M. A., & Asghar, W. (2021). Advances in healthcare wearable devices. npj Flexible Electronics, 5, Article 9.
- Ohannessian, R., Duong, T. A., & Odone, A. (2020). Global telemedicine implementation and integration within health systems to fight the COVID-19 pandemic: A call to action. JMIR Public Health and Surveillance, 6(2), e18810.
- Seh, A. H., Zarour, M., Alenezi, M., Sarkar, A. K., Agrawal, A., Kumar, R., & Khan, R. A. (2020). Healthcare data breaches: Insights and implications. Healthcare, 8(2), Article 133.