Assignment task:
Re-word the following: Technology has been applied to health care in so many diverse ways that it is not surprising that there is great confusion as to what terms such as telemedicine and telehealth mean and how they are used in health care. Thus, educational programs might begin with a clear understanding of what constitutes telehealth and how it differs from telemedicine. While some organizations such as the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) use telehealth and telemedicine interchangeably, 26 many definitions discern a difference between telehealth and telemedicine. There have been more than 100 definitions of telemedicine in the literature over the past 10 years, suggesting that clarification for practitioners is needed.27 The HRSA28 defines telehealth as the use of technology in care delivery, health information, and remote health education. Telehealth is therefore the use of electronic information, devices, and telecommunication technology to provide direct patient care, remote patient monitoring, and education at a distance. Telephone, audio-only, text messaging, fax, and email communication are not considered telehealth technologies.21,22 Telehealth has been called a "disruptive technology"29 in that it may either replace or supplement the traditional face-to-face patient-provider encounter. By contrast, telemedicine, a part of telehealth, generally denotes patient care delivery by way of the virtual clinic visit or specialty consultation. According to the World Health Services Organization,30 telemedicine is the delivery of health care services, where distance is a critical factor, by all health care professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information, for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities. For the purpose of this article, telehealth includes all uses of technology to communicate with patients and/or practitioners regarding health and health care delivery, monitoring, and/or education. Telemedicine is part of telehealth but involves virtual medical consultations (patient-providers or providers-providers), virtual clinic visits, remote monitoring, and teletransfer of diagnostic imaging. Figure 1 provides a detailed outline of telehealth and its connection to telemedicine.