This is the first major textbook on the emerging speciality of remote medicine. The modern concept emerged in the 1970s when the medical directors of the main oil companies operating in the North Sea — BP, Shell and Mobil — sought advice from the University sector since the morbidity and mortality levels of offshore workers had become unacceptable. A system of healthcare was jointly developed and applied by the industrial doctors and the academic doctors of Aberdeen University which worked well and greatly improved the healthcare of the offshore personnel. It was subsequently validated by duplication for the very different scientific population of the British Antarctic Survey where it worked even better. It was next introduced to the oilfields of the Middle East — Qatar (QGPC, Offshore and Onshore), Abu Dhabi (ADMA and ADCO) and Oman (PDO) where it worked equally well. The Aberdeen Universities next collaborated with the UAE University in Abu Dhabi to evaluate and develop telemedicine mainly in the area of education and research and they established early transcontinental courses and conferences together with joint supervision and production of higher degrees between collaborating universities in different parts of the world.The recently established International Remote Healthcare Association (IRHCA), backed by the University of Glasgow, the UAE University in Abu Dhabi and the Siberian State Medical University has established an ongoing study to determine the education and skills required to produce a competent Remote Healthcare Practitioner. The chapters in this book contain the knowledge base currently thought by the IRHCA to be necessary to produce a competent remote healthcare practitioners and thus to allow curricular development of the new courses necessary for the establishment of University qualifications and for the regulating authorities to design examinations and establish appropriate registration. Since this is a new speciality the continuing research of the IRHCA is necessary to act as an audit to ensure that the information in the book, and the courses derived from it remain relevant and also to detect omissions as they are recognised.

Following the success of the fourth edition, which was highly commended in the primary health care category for the 2018 British Medical Association (BMA) Medical Book Awards, this fifth edition has been substantially revised and updated to reflect significant changes in health care practice and to incorporate the explosion of information since the advent of the fourth industrial revolution and the COVID-19 pandemic. As before, the book covers target organ systems that can be affected by hazardous exposures in traditional industries and modern workplaces, both of which coexist in different parts of the world and present unique occupational health challenges for the medical practitioner. To this end, this reference textbook focuses on the clinical presentations, investigations, and medical and work-centric management of affected individuals. We have retained consideration of some special issues relevant to occupational medicine practice in this new edition and included a new section relating to the multidisciplinary nature of occupational health practice.The main emphasis continues to be prevention of disease and early detection of health effects caused by work exposures. This edition of the book has been updated to include new information and references. We have kept some of the previous case studies and illustrations, and introduced several new ones, some of which reflect the changes of practice due to the COVID-19 pandemic — for example, in risk communication, recognition and management of the risks of health care and frontline work. We have again asked international experts in occupational medicine and cross-disciplinary medical specialties to jointly author many of the chapters. Some of the authors are from Asia, and others from Europe, the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. All the authors have either clinical and/or academic experience in, or related to occupational medicine practice.The book is targeted at all those who are interested in the interaction between work and health, and how occupational diseases and work-related disorders may present and be managed. It will be of interest to medical practitioners, especially those in primary care and doctors intending to pursue a career in occupational medicine. It would also be relevant for allied health and safety professionals wanting to know more about health effects resulting from occupational exposures. Other groups who may find this edition useful as a ready reference are medical students, occupational health nurses, or clinical specialists in diverse fields such as dermatology, respiratory medicine, infectious diseases or toxicology.

The need to promote academic activities in telehealth remains a high priority as the discipline expands into new areas of healthcare. Response during 2020 to the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an excellent example of the rapid diversification and impact attainable with telehealth, and may kindle a new momentum for accelerated service design and adoption processes in the future. This book, Telehealth Innovations in Remote Healthcare Services Delivery, is the tenth in the Global Telehealth series. Due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions placed on academic gatherings, the organizers issued a general call for contributions, with the intention of attracting a wide cross-section of contributions reflecting the breadth of different aspects of telehealth internationally. The resulting collection offers snapshots of research projects and studies of service experience from five continents, with an emphasis on delivering benefits in regional settings in keeping with the theme of the book’s title. Articles range from descriptions of telehealth networks and clinical-service instances such as cardiac health, mental health and pathology, several in Pacific-rim settings, to more generic papers on the evolution of such services, as well as commentaries on innovative considerations for telehealth such as the emergence of the concept of virtual care, the suitability of health apps, and the status of eHealth readiness in the developing world. This book is a valuable contribution to the body of knowledge on current telehealth research interests and trends, and will be of interest to all those working in the field.

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.

Telemedicine, which involves electronic communications and software, provides the same clinical services to patients without the requirement of an in-person visit. Essentially, this is considered remote healthcare. Though telemedicine is not a new practice, it has become an increasingly popular form of healthcare delivery due to current events, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only are visits being moved onto virtual platforms, but additional materials and correspondence can remain in the digital sphere. Virtual lab results, digital imaging, medical diagnosis, and video consultations are just a few examples that encompass how telemedicine can be used for increased accessibility in healthcare delivery. With telemedicine being used in both the diagnosis and treatment of patients, technology in healthcare can be implemented at almost any phase of the patient experience. As healthcare delivery follows the digital shift, it is important to understand the technologies, benefits and challenges, and overall impacts of the remote healthcare experience. The Research Anthology on Telemedicine Efficacy, Adoption, and Impact on Healthcare Delivery presents the latest research on best practices for adopting telehealth into medical practices and its efficacy and solutions for the improvement of telemedicine, as well as addresses emerging challenges and opportunities, including issues such as securing patient data and providing healthcare accessibility to rural populations. Covering important themes that include doctor-patient relationships, tele-wound monitoring, and telemedicine regulations, this book is essential for healthcare professionals, doctors, medical students, academic and medical libraries, medical technologists, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in the emerging technological developments and solutions within the field of telemedicine.

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.

'The text is generally very readable, the scientific quality of the content is above reproach, and the content is very comprehensive within the confines of the size of the actual book … In my opinion, the book meets the needs of the varied targeted audience, and I would regard it as good value for money. I would consider the book useful for occupational practitioners particularly those in training who would gain a global perspective on many of the issues of occupational medicine.'Journal of Occupational MedicineThis fourth edition continues to provide a link between occupational health and clinical practice. It covers target organ systems that can be affected by hazardous exposures in workplaces, and it focuses on the clinical presentations, investigations and management of affected individuals. We have retained consideration of some special issues relevant to occupational medicine practice in this new edition.The main emphasis continues to be prevention of disease and early detection of health effects. This edition of the book has been updated to include new materials, topics, and references. We have retained a few of the previous case studies and illustrations, and introduced several new ones. There are new chapters on audit and evidence-based practice and on occupational cancer. We trust that this edition addresses many of the recommendations that were provided by readers of the previous edition.We have again asked international experts to author many of the chapters. Some of the authors are from Asia, and others from the US, UK, the Middle East and Australia. All the authors will have either clinical or academic experience in occupational medicine practice.The book will be of interest to medical practitioners, especially those in primary care and doctors intending to pursue a career in occupational medicine. It would also be relevant for non-medical health and safety professionals wanting to know more about health effects resulting from occupational exposures. Other groups who may find this edition useful as a ready reference are medical students, occupational health nurses, or clinical specialists in fields such as dermatology, respiratory medicine or toxicology. The book is targeted at all those who are interested in the interaction between work and health, and how occupational diseases and work-related disorders may present.Related Link(s)

Accompanying CD-Rom has same title as book.

This Fourth Edition of the highly praised Practical Guide for Medical Teachers provides a bridge between the theoretical aspects of medical education and the delivery of enthusiastic and effective teaching in basic science and clinical medicine. Healthcare professionals are committed teachers and this book is a practical guide to help them maximise their performance. Practical Guide for Medical Teachers charts the steady rise of global interest in medical education in a concise format. This is a highly practical book with useful "Tips" throughout the text. The continual emergence of new topics which are of interest to teachers in all healthcare disciplines is recognised in this new edition with seven new chapters: The hidden curriculum; Team based learning; Patient safety; Assessment of attitudes and professionalism; Medical education leadership; Medical education research; and How to manage a medical college An enlarged group of 73 authors from 14 countries provide both an international perspective and a multiprofessional approach to topics of interest to all healthcare teachers.

Fundamentals of Telemedicine and Telehealth provides an overview on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to solve health problems, especially for people living in remote and underserviced areas. With the advent of new technologies and improvement of internet connectivity, telehealth has become a new subject requiring a new understanding of IT devices and how to utilize them to fulfill health needs. The book discusses topics such as digitizing patient information, technology requirements, existing resources, planning for telehealth projects, and primary care and specialized applications. Additionally, it discusses the use of telemedicine for patient empowerment and telecare in remote locations. Authored by IMIA Telehealth working group, this book is a valuable source for graduate students, healthcare workers, researchers and clinicians interested in using telehealth as part of their practice or research. - Presents components of healthcare that can be benefitted from remote access and when to rely on them - Explains the current technologies and tools and how to put them to effective use in daily healthcare - Provides legal provisions for telehealth implementation, discussing the risks of remote healthcare provision and cross border care