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| Analog, IP, Video Phones, Cameras, Video Conference & Video Surveillance Products |
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TeleHealth, Home Healthcare & Telemedicine Applications ] What is Home Healthcare HOME HEALTHCARE, involves the delivery of patient care services that are transmitted to the home (or patient information that is transmitted from the home to a central receiving station), using telecommunications technology. Often the highest "tech" item used is the common household telephone. For some patients, the technology must be this familiar, "low tech," and easy to use! Although these days, the telephone is no longer an ordinary telephone. It is now a videophone capable of transmitting voice and video over POTS ( Plain Old Telephone Service). With the improvements in video compression, built-in LCD screen and CCD camera this "high tech" but user friendly device is providing the patient and specialist a means to stay visually connected. With the capability of connecting a number of external devices(i.e. hi-res camera, dermascope, otoscope, opthamaloscope) the videophone enables the specialist to communicate more information to the central receiving site. Home healthcare applications may provide patient education, compliance reminders, and daily monitoring of patients who have already been diagnosed in a standard medical setting. In an era of reduced health care budgets and an ever increasing need to "do more for less", videophones are an affordable solution as a needed resource in order for patient outcomes to be maintained and even…improved. A home health care agency may provide telehomecare visits to accomplish and/or enhance patient care under circumstances when "hands-on care" is not required. Video visits may be provided by RNs, social workers, LPNs, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, physicians and/or nurse practitioners or others within the pre-existing scope of practice for that category of practitioner. What is Telehealth TELEHEALTH is a much wider concept than telemedicine. It describes a comprehensive infrastructure for the remote delivery of health care. Telehealth involves other clinical disciplines than medicine and uses health information systems to give health information and health advice directly to patients. Meeting the challenge of achieving this vision requires the creation of complex systems and standards. These systems and standards are what will make telehealth viable by insuring it is "plug and play" from a clinical, technical and managerial standpoint Goals for Telehealth
What is Hospice? Hospice care involves a core interdisciplinary team of professionals and volunteers who provide medical, psychological, and spiritual support to the terminally ill, as well as support for the patient's family. The care is primarily based in the home, enabling families to remain together in peace, comfort, and dignity. Hospice care is a program of medical and illness-related assistance for when a person with a terminal disease chooses to die at home with the support of family, friends and caring professionals. Hospice care emphasizes comfort measures and counseling to provide social, spiritual and physical support to the dying patient and his or her family. All hospice care is provided under professional medical supervision. Over 90 percent of hospice care is provided in the patient's home, although it can also take place in nursing homes or in most inpatient settings. What Are the Advantages of Hospice Care?
Two primary functions of hospice care are to provide relief from pain and to provide support for both the terminally ill patient as well as their family. The physical pain arising from a terminal illness may be debilitating, frightening and even dehumanizing. Hospice providers have the skills and resources to permit persons to live as pain-free, as comfortable, and as full a life as possible. In addition to providing for the physical comfort of the dying person, hospice provides social and spiritual support for the patient and his or her family. This support takes the form of time off for the primary caregiver, personal care, nutritional counseling, pastoral counseling, grief counseling, and even help with legal and funeral arrangements. From the family's perspective, a hospice program provides benefits before, during and after the death of a loved one. Nursing and medical support is available during the illness, and hospice nurses are even on call at the time of death. In addition, they also provide a range of bereavement services for both adults and children. When Was the First Hospice Established? While the hospice concept dates back to ancient times, the American hospice movement did not begin until the 1960s. The first hospice in this country, The Connecticut Hospice, Inc., began providing in-home services in March 1974. It was funded by the National Cancer Institute for its first three years. What Is the Future of Hospice Care? The need for hospices will continue to rise due to the growing aging population, the increasing number of persons with AIDS, and the rising health care costs. More importantly, medical professionals, as well as the general public are choosing hospice over other forms of health care delivery because of its holistic, patient-family, in-home centered philosophy. Who Pays for Hospice Care? Hospice services are covered under Medicare, and currently 45 states offer hospice care as an option under their Medicaid programs. In addition, hospice care is a covered benefit under most private insurance plans, HMOs, and other managed care organizations. Military personnel and their dependents are covered for hospice under CHAMPUS. Hospices continue to rely heavily on grants and community support to fund unreimbursed care and hospice services for patients with little or no insurance. TeleHealth, Home Healthcare & Telemedicine Applications (H.324) If you're a healthcare, homecare, or medical services provider, consider the benefits of two types of H.324 videophones, Set-top and Standalone, for easy operation using regular phone lines, and efficient interface with patients. Despite common belief, IP or Internet Protocol devices are not yet adequate solutions for medical or healthcare scenarios, because not everyone has access to a computer or sufficient bandwidth. Moreover, high traffic levels and connection inconsistencies among IP providers suggest that interface may not occur when scheduled or necessary. Videophones that are H.324-compatible, commonly referred to as "POTS" (plain old telephone service) units, transmit signals up to 15 frames per second for full-screen, real-time, full-motion video with simultaneous echo-free audio. Each type has a built-in 33.6 modem, accelerated processing chip, and high-quality CCD camera. Both set-top and standalone videophones offer a wide range of features designed for operational options, such as: pan, tilt, and zoom camera motions, privacy mode, adjustable picture size and quality, and more. 
Set-top units can be placed atop a television set, on a table, or configured with a wall-mounted device for permanency. An uncomplicated connection of only four cables, which can be accomplished by someone as young as 13 or as mature as 80, is all that's required. No computer skills are required, even though the TeleEye 324TM model will display video on a computer or television monitor. To record calls, set-tops can be connected to VCRs. Compact and lightweight; set-tops travel easily in a briefcase or valise, and they ship economically (TeleVyou 400 has a carrying case). 
Standalone units feature a built-in handset and LCD screen for more personal video communication and involve connecting only two cables: telephone and power. Extra input/output ports on standalones offer the option of connection to large-screen TVs for group viewing, camcorders, wireless cameras or other devices. Space-efficient and high-tech in design, standalones are excellent choices for business, professional or personal use.On-going and Post-procedure Care Scenarios Put H.324 Videophones to Professional Work Telemedicine. Applications are emerging rapidly in oncology, palliative care, social work, AIDS patient monitoring, and psychiatry, that are feasible only because of the feature-rich nature of both set-top and standalone videophones. At the Veterans Administration-Maryland Healthcare System facilities in Perry Point, Maryland and the VA Medical Center in Tampa, Florida, our videophones are being used for mental health, behavioral science, and clinical- and home-care applications. A recently completed Palliative Care study using set-top videophones at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) was summarized as "excellent." Because of the impressive results, we are working with them to ultimately quadruple the number of set-top and standalone units that will be in circulation among their program participants. Tele-Visits. An eight-year Texas Telemedicine Association study revealed that both patients and physicians preferred and were more comfortable with tele-visiting. Their separate study of AIDS patients showed a significant reduction in hospital visitations due to the ability to preview patients while in crisis and at home. Family-members or loved ones of patients in remote isolation can quickly install and operate set-top units and enjoy full-screen video display (on TV screens of any size) for group participation in visiting with loved ones. Hospital rooms are best served with standalone units, however, because there are less cords and the all-in-one design makes the best use of limited patient-access space. In fact, this is exactly the combination that's used in the Bone Marrow Transplant division of MSKCC, where patients can be separated from familial contact for up to six months while in remote isolation. Providing the ability to make audio and video contact with loved ones softens the anxieties of all concerned and reinforces the healing process. At the Transitional Learning Center, a rehabilitation facility for head-injury patients located on the Gulf of Mexico, set-top and standalone combinations help to maintain positive states of mind by keeping patients in visual contact with loved ones who may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. Experience has shown that physicians and healthcare workers quickly adapt to using [videophones as] telemedical tools. As they learn what they can and cannot do …, they begin to operate the video camera as an extension of their eyes in examining a patient or consulting with another physician.1 Yet, institutions are not alone in the discovery of videophones as important, cost-efficient tools. Wind Currents works with U. S. Air Force, Army and Navy officers for inclusion of literally hundreds of set-tops in MWR (Morale, Welfare, Recreation), distance learning, administrative, and medical settings. Academic institutions-such as the Universities of: Arkansas, Florida, and Tennessee, and the Catholic University of America-as well as healthcare, homecare and public institutions-such as New York State DDSO, and the Canadian Mental Health Board-are either evaluating or using our H.324 and/or H.320 (ISDN) solutions, as well. H.324 videophones are now necessary and cost-effective components of quality 21st Century service delivery. Our interests in the medical, health, and social applications of current and emerging videophone technologies goes far beyond the value of any sale, and you'll not find a more ethical and intelligently accommodating group with which to business than Wind Currents Technology. Contact us by telephone, email, or fax to discuss your specific application(s) and budget. There's never a charge for Quotations or Proposals and we listen well. 1 Jane Preston, M.D., F.A.P.A., The Telemedicine Handbook, Improving Health Care with Interactive Video Copyright 1993, Telemedical Interactive Consultative Services, Inc., Chapter 7 |
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