Question

There are many controversies regarding reimbursement for telemedicine services. Imagine that you are negotiating with an insurance carrier to obtain reimbursement for a store-and- forward telemedicine service that you have developed. The medical director of the second insurance payer states: “Telemedicine seems like ‘screening’ rather than a mechanism for delivering health care. This is because you are simply using technology to identify patients who need to be referred to a real doctor, rather than providing true medical care. Therefore we should only reimburse a very small amount for these screening services.” In your opinion, is this a legitimate argument?  

Answer 1

.It provides care to patients far away from doctors or consultants without having to travel to them.It prevents transmission of diseases between patients and medical staff.Telehealth robots help physicians in many ways:   Surgical assistance: Robotic arms guide by doctor can perform basic surgeries even when tgebdocoth is alfar away.

    Blood drawing: Quickly draw blood from a specific vein in no time.

    Patient engagement:Help patients get in touch with the doctor and help them to open up to care providers.

    Drug delivery: Specific dosage of drugs to specific organs can be done by deplaying miniature robots inside the patient's body

Categories of Telehealth include:

Live video:Involves real time face to face interaction of patients/care givers over broadband and thus saves a lot of time and travelStore and forward:The patient's diagnosis is stored and presented to the doctor.Remote patient monitoring: Continuous monitoring by collecting the patient's health data and sending it to the provider elsewhere and make changes if any needed in the treatment accordingly. Mobile health or m-health: This includes care being provided by mobile devodev like cell phones and tablets where information, appointment reminders are easily available.Telemedicine means only remote clinical services like diagnosis and monitoring but Telehealth includes preventive , promotive and curative care delivery hence it is and not just screening but a mechanism for delevering health care