Page 536 - Encyclopedia of Nursing Research

T

or to assist nursing care at distant sites. This
TelehealTh broad definition includes several means of
transmission, including telephone and fax
transmissions, interactive video and audio,
Telehealth is defined as the use of interac- store-and-forward technology, patient mon-
tive technology for the provision of clinical itoring equipment, electronic patient records,
health care, patient and professional educa- electronic libraries and databases, the
tion, public health, and health care admin- Internet and intranet, World Wide Web, elec-
istration over small and large distances tronic mail systems, social media, decision
(American Nurses Association, 1999; Chaffee, and care planning support systems, and elec-
1999). The defining aspect of Telehealth is tronic documentation systems. When used
the use of electronic signals to transfer var- optimally, telehealth can be used to leverage
ious types of personal health information limited health care resources to better meet
from one site to another. Information ranges the needs of patients (Bendixen, Levy, Olive,
from clinical records to health promotion Kobb, & Mann, 2009; Lillibridge & Hanna,
instructions to still-images of wounds and 2009; Malacarne et al., 2009; Rajasekaran,
motion-images demonstrating exercise rou- Radhakrishnan, & Subbaraj, 2009).
tines. Throughout the published literature Most nurses have been already been
relevant to the health sciences, telehealth is involved in telehealth without realizing it.
used interchangeably with telemedicine, and Examples include telephoning or faxing a
every so often the term telenursing will sur- patient status report, telephone triage, home
face. The term telehealth is embraced as the health visits via telecommunication for mon-
more encompassing concept, descriptive of itoring, participation in social media, and
the state of technology used in the provision designing Web sites for educating patients.
of health care; telemedicine and telenursing Although much attention has been paid to
are subsets of telehealth. technology and innovative equipment as a
Telehealth has tremendous potential for potential to enhance the access and availabil-
nursing, both as a means of communication ity of health care services for patients, regard-
among nurses, patients, and their caregiv- less of where they live, very little work has
ers, and as a way to deliver tailored nurs- been accomplished in the area of systemati-
ing services. Telehealth can serve in nearly cally reviewing the efficiency and effective-
every area of nursing care, from emergency ness of its applications. Numerous studies
response systems to hospital, home, and have shown that telehealth can produce clin-

community care. Telehealth has the poten- ically similar care to face-to-face visits with

tial of expanding health care services beyond health practitioners, that it can improve
traditional geographic boundaries and patients’ access to care, and can reducehospi-

enabling access to a broader range of care tal and patient travel costs (Rheuban, 2006).
options in previously underserved areas, However, studies on the clinical outcomes

and at times in which health care providers of care have focused on different patient
commonly are not accessible. It can be used populations,different disease categories, and

for bedside nursing care, patient education, different telehealth technologies, making it