As I discussed in my previous post, Telemedicine has a variety of applications. Telemedicine also delivers significant benefits for GPs. For example, Otn.teledermSF is a service that enables a referring doctor to consult quickly with a dermatologist anywhere in Ontario. A photograph of a patient’s skin condition, plus pertinent health information, is sent by the GP or RN at the office for review by the specialist, who assesses the information and provides a treatment plan, generally in less than five days. For the patient, wait time is shortened, costs are reduced and inconvenience is lessened. For the GP, a treatment path for the patient can be provided more quickly.

For the patient, wait time is shortened, costs are reduced and inconvenience is lessened.

How Do Patients and Practitioners Feel About Telemedicine?

Telehomecare employs technology to help patients self-manage their disease, thereby reducing visits to primary care doctors and emergency. Patients receive education and coaching about their disease from a program nurse, thereby accomplishing what “years of preaching in the office had not achieved previously,” according to one family doctor in OTN’s pilot project.

A nurse in OTN’s Telehomecare pilot observed that over time, her patients learned the “right” behaviours for managing their conditions, citing the example of a patient with a history of heart failure. The nurse called in response to fluctuations she noted in the patient’s weight during a routine monitoring session. The patient expected the call, because she knew the foods she had eaten at an event the night before would cause the fluctuations.

Continuing education is easier to complete and more convenient for busy GPs, especially with the introduction of Personal Videoconferencing, the next generation of telemedicine. GPs can participate from the comfort of their home or office.

This post is a modified excerpt from the whitepaper Telemedicine in Ontario: Fact not Fiction.