1. Discuss three examples of how telehealth applications are affect...

1. Discuss three examples of how telehealth applications are affecting patient care?

Nowadays, people all over the world state they cannot live without the convenience of information technologies and the Internet. However, when it comes to health care, people still prefer visiting the doctor's office instead of scheduling online appointments. Even though telemedicine has a great potential, many patients do not know what the advantages of using these services are. Therefore, this part of the paper will discuss some of the examples how telehealth applications are affecting patient care.
Firstly, telehealth improves the access to health care, especially for people who live in rural areas. One of the basic human rights is the right to the highest attainable standard of health, which includes the availability of health care services (WHO , 2015). However, some reports state that around 20% of U.S. residents live in rural areas where there is a limited access to health care facilities and services. Telemedicine might be able to help solve this accessibility problem. Often, primary health care provides do not have specialists qualified to diagnose some uncommon medical conditions. Therefore, patients might have to travel long distances to seek for an expert opinion. Ensuring the access to remote health care eliminates or lowers the need for long commutes to health care providers who have on-site qualified specialists or subspecialists. What is more, telehealth technology can also help patients have their digitally prescribed therapy directly send to the nearest pharmacist (Tucker, 2015, p. 28). This possibility is especially convenient for people with reduced mobility. All of these telehealth potentials improve the access to health care providers and medical services.