Basic telecommunication

For remote care, telemedicine equipment plays a vital role. Basic telecommunication technologies such as telephone, internet and computer are required. It is easier for patients with health trap equipment at home to monitor their health, such as a heart rate monitor with pulse oximeter, body temperature with thermometer and so on.

When a patient goes to a clinic or hospital, medical professionals have all the tools they need to examine them. However, when they visit the patient online, the health care staff may not have the proper equipment to handle the remote health visit.

• Here are the basic tools you’ll need for your telehealth appointments

• Remote vital monitoring. A remote vital monitoring device takes a patient’s vitals and sends the results straight to your device. Any patients at risk for developing serious problems can wear these wireless devices continuously. 
• Virtual stethoscopes. Virtual stethoscopes record audio from the patient’s end and then transmit it to your device. Patients can record audio from any area you’d like to examine, whether it’s their heart, lungs, or digestive system.  
• Wireless scales. Wireless scales ensure you’re getting an accurate reading of a patient’s current weight. Having a record of your patient’s weight makes it easier to correctly prescribe medication and treatments, even when you can’t see your patient physically.  
• Thermometers. Giving a patient a thermometer that can record and display their temperature on a screen means they can send you this data multiple times a day. You can then track changes in the patient’s condition. 
• Digital otoscopes. A digital otoscope can livestream video and images to you and record images for future viewing. This allows your patient to examine their ear at any time and send you the image so that you can look at it when it’s convenient.  
• Pulse oximeters. Measuring a patient’s oxygen level is especially important if you suspect they have COVID-19, as COVID-19 patients may have a low oxygen level and not even know it.   
• High-quality cameras for specialty practices. While you can get away with using a regular web camera for most telehealth visits, certain specialties need better quality images. Specialists like dermatologists and radiologists need higher-resolution images and video to diagnose medical issues accurately.  
• HIPAA-compliant software. Many of the tools we’ve discussed require you to collect sensitive health information over the internet.

As you go through this list, you may discover that it doesn’t include the specific tools you use every day. However, that doesn’t mean there’s no telemedicine version of it. With the wide variety of telemedicine tools out there, you’ll likely find whatever tool your practice needs to deliver great telehealth care.

Getting the equipment you need is an important part of your telehealth practice. Thankfully, it’s also pretty easy to do. Now that you know what telehealth tools are available, you’ll be able to prepare both your healthcare organization and your team for online visits.

The tools we’ve covered are mostly physical pieces of equipment, but there’s more to telehealth than physical tools.

I hope it was useful