The telephone is now a significant component of medical care: 25% of encounters between primary care physicians and patients involve its use. Successful telephone medicine improves the rapport between doctor and patient, increases access to care, enhances patient satisfaction, and lowers patient and physician costs. Telephone medicine is no longer just renewing prescriptions. A telephone call can clarify issues raised during the office visit, help patients with decisions about their health care at home, prevent unnecessary emergency department visits, and communicate test results quickly and personally.

In 1996, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its report Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care. In that report, the IOM Committee on Evaluating Clinical Applications of Telemedicine found telemedicine is similar in most respects to other technologies for which better evidence of effectiveness is also being demanded. Telemedicine, however, has some special characteristics-shared with information technologies generally-that warrant particular notice from evaluators and decision makers. Since that time, attention to telehealth has continued to grow in both the public and private sectors. Peer-reviewed journals and professional societies are devoted to telehealth, the federal government provides grant funding to promote the use of telehealth, and the private technology industry continues to develop new applications for telehealth. However, barriers remain to the use of telehealth modalities, including issues related to reimbursement, licensure, workforce, and costs. Also, some areas of telehealth have developed a stronger evidence base than others. The Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) sponsored the IOM in holding a workshop in Washington, DC, on August 8-9 2012, to examine how the use of telehealth technology can fit into the U.S. health care system. HRSA asked the IOM to focus on the potential for telehealth to serve geographically isolated individuals and extend the reach of scarce resources while also emphasizing the quality and value in the delivery of health care services. This workshop summary discusses the evolution of telehealth since 1996, including the increasing role of the private sector, policies that have promoted or delayed the use of telehealth, and consumer acceptance of telehealth. The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment: Workshop Summary discusses the current evidence base for telehealth, including available data and gaps in data; discuss how technological developments, including mobile telehealth, electronic intensive care units, remote monitoring, social networking, and wearable devices, in conjunction with the push for electronic health records, is changing the delivery of health care in rural and urban environments. This report also summarizes actions that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) can undertake to further the use of telehealth to improve health care outcomes while controlling costs in the current health care environment.

This handbook presents step-by-step protocols for telephone triage and advice for over 150 pediatric symptoms and chief complaints. Written in algorithmic format, the protocols list questions the health care professional should ask the caller to assess the urgency of the problem and determine whether it requires emergency intervention, an office visit, or home care. Where appropriate, the book provides first aid and home care instructions for parents and alerts parents to complications that warrant a call back.

This great resource provides the expert help triagers need to handle a wide array of phone inquiries. The new 4th edition is completely revised and updated to include more than 100 protocols that provide step-by-step guidance for addressing 90% of the most common adult complaints.

Telemedicineâ€"the use of information and telecommunications technologies to provide and support health care when distance separates the participantsâ€"is receiving increasing attention not only in remote areas where health care access is troublesome but also in urban and suburban locations. Yet the benefits and costs of this blend of medicine and digital technologies must be better demonstrated before today's cautious decision-makers invest significant funds in its development. Telemedicine presents a framework for evaluating patient care applications of telemedicine. The book identifies managerial, technical, policy, legal, and human factors that must be taken into account in evaluating a telemedicine program. The committee reviews previous efforts to establish evaluation frameworks and reports on results from several completed studies of image transmission, consulting from remote locations, and other telemedicine programs. The committee also examines basic elements of an evaluation and considers relevant issues of quality, accessibility, and cost of health care. Telemedicine will be of immediate interest to anyone with interest in the clinical application of telemedicine.

"This book offers tools, techniques, and best practices to help medical practice administrators improve patient access by better managing the practice's telephones. This will optimize provider productivity and efficiency, staff, provider, and patient satisfaction, practice profitability, and patient value"--Provided by publisher.

The Most Comprehensive and User-Friendly Adult Telephone Triage Protocols Available - From a Pioneer in the Field "This is a well thought out and organized tool for those involved in telephone advice and triage. It has many unique features not normally found in triage protocols, including research related to medical error, decision support, and critical thinking. The references are extensive. It is a necessary addition to the library of anyone involved in telephone triage and this update is an essential replacement for the previous protocols book. 3 Stars."--Doody's Review Service Written by Sheila Wheeler, one of the world's leading experts in telephone triage, this functional reference provides the guidelines nurses need for the safe, effective, and fast disposition of 1,000+ health related problems by telephone. Organized by anatomical site and written in lay language, Telephone Triage eliminates the extra step of translating home treatment, first aid, or self-assessment instructions when performing telephone triage with the layperson. The format incorporates a critical-thinking process that mimics how nurses naturally solve problems in real-world situations. This “4 in 1” package contains everything you need to implement a telephone triage program: Comprehensive training, protocols, standards and a CD with case studies for analysis and critique, plus an optional telehealth continuing education website. Features: Users Guide - complete with insightful FAQs Protocols - wide-range of common diseases including Women's Health Documentation Form - ensures proper procedure, documentation, and risk management Standards - Comprehensive practice standards for practitioners and programs CD-ROM - contains 10 case studies for discussion and analysis Continuing Education -An accompanying website to earn CE credit online, at www.teletriage.com Representing the latest research and standards in the field, Telephone Triage is the ultimate resource for the triage nurse.

Performing telephone triage requires the ability to make quick and effective decisions based on limited information. This rapid-access resource delivers more than 200 triage protocols for evaluating patients' symptoms over the telephone. Each symptom entry lists questions, grouped by urgency level, to determine whether the caller should seek emergency care immediately, seek medical care the same day, call back for appointment, or follow home care instructions. Detailed home care instructions are then provided. Simple, direct, and useful, this is the most comprehensive and user-friendly telephone triage book available.

This new book is a companion to Pediatric Telephone Protocols: Office Version, and it can also stand alone as an independent resource. Pediatric Nurse Telephone Triage is a pediatric nurse triage tool that has 2 major objectives. the first objective is to teach nurses how to perform nurse telephone triage using standard triage guidelines. the second objective is to educate nurses to better understand the rationale behind the Barton D. Schmitt telephone triage guidelines. Tables, figures, and algorithms are used throughout the text to illustrate, organize, and explain how to do telephone tria

This telephone triage book is designed for use by professional nurses assessing and advising patients over the telephone on topics related to obstetrics and gynecology. It is designed to crystalize the professionals existing knowledge base and to provide clear guidance on handling a wide-variety of patient situations about which the triage nurse might need to work through. the protocols are organized alphabetically by major topic areas and outline the salient medical, legal and practical considerations involved important educational points are highlighted to reinforce important points to stres