Telehealth is the remote delivery of health care using smartphones and other devices with audio and video capabilities. The term “telehealth” means remote medical and nonmedical services; “telemedicine” means remote medical services.

Telehealth can happen in multiple ways.
• Live video in real time (synchronous): two-way interaction between patient and provider, or provider and provider (i.e., team meetings, consultations).
• Store-and-forward (asynchronous): sharing recorded patient history, X-rays, photos with the clinical team.
• Remote patient monitoring: using devices (wireless blood pressure devices, glucometers, pulse oximeters, weight scales) that send information to the clinical team.
• Mobile health (mHealth): using smart phones either for synchronous or store-and-forward information-sharing (i.e., daily patient-reported symptom burden).
• Telephone communication for direct care and assessment, as well as coordination of care.

Telehealth can be a cost-effective means of meeting patient needs. Patients often prefer telehealth visits for their convenience and timeliness, as compared to office and home visits.

See reference for more information.

Adapted from telehealth start-up guide - CAPC.ORG. Internet. Available at https://www.capc.org/documents/download/233/. Accessed on November 7, 2020.