Telehealth vs Telemedicine: Remote Healthcare Solutions

Digital transformation of the healthcare industry opens up new opportunities for interaction between doctors and patients, improves the quality of treatment, and simplifies access to a wider list of services. However, the combination of traditional therapies and unique technologies may spawn some confusion in terminology. 

When comparing telehealth and telemedicine solutions, one must consider the differences between two largely similar forms of healthcare. For that purpose, we need to start with establishing what telemedicine and telehealth are and looking at defining examples of principles and solutions in both fields.

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What Is Telemedicine And Telehealth?

How do we define telehealth? The term encompasses a wide range of options for the provision of healthcare in general. This applies to not only diagnosis and treatment. For the most part, the main goals are the delivery of medical information, training of personnel, and education of customers of the healthcare system, that is, average users.

Such services include remote consultations, administrative meetings with colleagues in the medical community, training providers of medicines and special equipment, as well as anyone interested in the basics of promoting and maintaining health. Thanks to telehealth services, we learn how to make our lives better. 

There are four key components of telehealth: 

1. Video communication—the interaction between stakeholders in real-time. This can be a live broadcast of a patient’s examination or a training session in real-time.
2. Exchange of medical data between patients, healthcare professionals, and doctors, including texts, tests, MRI results, X-rays, etc. Such data is sent through special, secure, electronic communication networks to ensure private patient’s information stays safe. As a result, this type of service does not require real-time interaction. For example, a patient with chest pain has an electrocardiogram taken and sends it for testing. In response, he receives a detailed analysis from a specialist or an invitation to visit a doctor’s office. 
3. Remote patient monitoring (RPM)—enables remote monitoring and assessment of a patient’s physical condition by collecting medical data (blood pressure, glucose, oxygen saturation, etc.) using smart devices. These include digital stethoscopes, watches, bracelets, and other wearable vital sign devices. Chances are, you have one of these too. 
4. Mobile healthcare—provides ongoing health monitoring through mobile data transmission. You can be sure at any time that your doctor is always aware of your current problems.

Now let’s talk about how to define telemedicine.

This concept refers exclusively to the practical treatment of a specific patient. These services are not meant for everyone. They are for doctors whose clients, as a rule, are not direct participants in consultations, colloquia, etc. Usually, they involve only specialists who try to help the patients together.

Electronic communications and special software are used for remote clinical examinations, follow-up visits, and medication, which may be provided through secure channels. They are often used by healthcare providers to exchange information in real-time.

These include licensed doctors, hospitals, health centers, clinical social workers, and universities. This is how best practices are quickly shared within the medical community. New technologies are being used to synchronize with other doctors and hospitals in case management, which improves the timeliness of action and reduces the likelihood of errors. 

Telehealth and telemedicine have made great strides in recent years. The widespread digitalization of the industry has become a determining factor in the quality of remote delivery of health services by specialized providers. For this, the latest scientific achievements are widely used:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)—Simplifies the provision of accurate recommendations and drug selection based on medical history and personal observations of the doctor
• Internet of Things (IoT)—Through 24/7 monitoring, wearable devices simplify the tracking of the patient’s condition and the effectiveness of subsequent treatment
• Augmented reality / virtual reality (AR/VR)—VR helps inexperienced professionals acquire new skills and improve existing ones they are able to create effective therapeutic spaces and improve care for people with mental disorders

Are Telehealth and Telemedicine the Same?

The line between these two concepts is gradually becoming invisible. And yet, they are not exactly the same. When comparing telehealth vs telemedicine, it can be argued that the former is not limited to the provision of services only by doctors, and the latter refers to services provided mainly in the clinical environment by specialists. Think about it like the difference between listening to a lecture about the dangers of smoking and being prescribed a complex treatment for lung cancer.

Both services use the same technologies, only their levels and costs may be different. For example, videoconferencing between a specialist and medical students is not clinical in nature, so it is telehealth. However, the same contact between patient and doctor is a case of telemedicine as it relates to the practical clinical relationship. But the technical parameters of such a connection will be different. In the former case, high video resolution and sound clarity are not required, and in the latter case, you can hardly do without them. 

Likewise, an academic publication intended for educational use is telehealth. These things are easy to organize and inexpensive. But the transfer of patient’s test results in digital format is telemedicine. The technical solution must be of very high quality. Updating or alerting the public with mobile services is telehealth, but the provision of instructions to patients in the postoperative period can be called telemedicine.

There are a few more important things in the telehealth vs telemedicine comparison. The latter requires great accuracy, reliability of transmission, and data protection—therefore it offers the most expensive technological solutions. In addition, they can carry insurance and legal risks. The information provided by telehealth can be general or informational in nature. The costs associated with implementing comparatively less complex services can be much, much lower.

Thus, the main difference between telehealth and telemedicine is that the former refers to the range of services intended for a wide audience. The latter involves the exchange of data between the attending physicians and patients, necessary for specific cases. These are services with a narrower specialization.

Examples of Telemedicine and Telehealth

Experts believe that a key trend in e-health in the coming decades will be the use of patient health data and applications to provide fast, expert advice.

Below are typical telemedicine examples:

• Virtual doctor visits
• Video conferencing for more accurate diagnoses, treatments, prevention of negative consequences, and minimization of side effects
• Exchange of reports (ultrasound, test results, etc.) and other special documentation between specialists and patients
• Consulting on the treatment of chronic diseases, as well as immediately after hospitalization and operations 

Now let’s look at telehealth examples:

• Remote monitoring, diagnostics, and consulting
• Distance profile training for healthcare workers
• Remote physiotherapy and psychotherapy sessions
• Educational forums inside and outside the medical community
• Health education
• Health resources and coaching
• Sharing and viewing laboratory test results, tracking current parameters (such as blood sugar or blood pressure), sending requests to replenish pharmacy stocks
• Two-way communication of patients with medical teams

That is, it is more about secondary issues that are not related to an immediate threat to your life. On the contrary, such solutions are designed to help you become healthier.

Despite the differences, both solutions have a common goal—to make remote clinical services available and to improve the efficiency of patient health management and the medical system as a whole. While licenses and other regulations may vary from country to country, service providers can offer effective solutions to sensitive issues such as customer discomfort and privacy.

Conclusions

So, what is the difference between telehealth and telemedicine? The main one is in the scope and purpose of the services provided. Telemedicine concerns only clinical cases and direct treatment. Telehealth is concerned with a broader range of medical activities, encompassing a range of aspects of educational, administrative, and non-clinical work. Both are important for society and for business.

If you wish to use telecommunications in medical practice and stay ahead of the competition, you need a reliable partner who can ensure your technological readiness for new challenges and the safety of your patients’ data. Contact us for a consultation. We will analyze the needs of your business and develop the best solution tailored to your needs.