HJAR Jul/Aug 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  JUL / AUG 2020 17 What telemedicine platform do you suggest? There are many great telecommunica- tion applications and products available. When determining which system would provide the best outcome for the needs at hand, I ask: Do I have a teleconference feature in an already existing application? Does it meet the needs of the practice? If not, then I would look for the feature(s) that the practice requires in order to meet their needs, and research from there. It is also imperative to consider cost, licensure, ease of use, and compatibility with other applications that the patients will be using. Most importantly, though, security must be taken into consideration. Many of the free applications available for download are vul- nerable to compromise. You want a secure and reliable solution. Again, this gets back to the perception of the patient. An unreliable and unsecure telecommunication experi- ence may result in the patient questioning the credibility of the provider. How have telemedicine rules changed as a result of COVID-19? Regulations and guidelines in health- care need to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. Information technology is es- sential to provide alternate methods for pa- tients to interact with healthcare profession- als. As a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a dramatic change in the ac- ceptance and adoption of telemedicine. Or- ganizations are starting to see the benefits of working remotely, teleconferencing, and successfully conducting health evaluations while patients are confined at home, to ad- dress the challenges of maintaining social distancing. COVID-19 has opened the pos- sibilities of using technology to conduct and benefit businesses. Laws are being reviewed and revised to re-address privacy, data re- tention, billing opportunities, and improving telecommunication policies. Are there pitfalls we should avoid? Definitely. Availability, reliability, and se- curity are of utmost importance. All tele- medicine encounters require communica- tion with patients, just as if you are in an office setting. Because of this, public internet is needed, which is made up of a group of wireless, fiberoptic, or copper wire com- munications providers. With that, telecom- munications rely on public internet being available; and all these connections are vulnerable to some form of outage. Addi- tionally, security is key. With these being mostly public utilities, they are vulnerable to hackers who are always trying to gain ac- cess to health information. Security should be at the forefront of selecting any type of computer system or telecommunications system. Are there technical hiccups you are seeing in telemedicine? Yes, as with all electronic technology, there is risk. What happens when the power goes out? Most larger practices have battery and generator back-ups for critical services. Smaller practices need to look at their situa- tion, and address the criticality of their ser- vices. It must be determined if telecommuni- cation is an imperative service. For example, if a consultant is on a teleconference with a surgeon in the operating room, and telecom- munication is interrupted in the middle of an operation due to a power outage, then yes, telecommunications is considered critical in this case. Conversely, having a follow- up consultation with a patient about a rash they found last week may not be considered imperative to having a battery or generator back-up for telemedicine. Information technology is essential to provide alternate methods for patients to interact with healthcare professionals. As a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, there has been a dramatic change in the acceptance and adoption of telemedicine.