Use of Internet in Healthcare: Its Present Role and Future Trends - Term Paper Example

Running head: INTERNET AND HEALTHCARE Use of Internet in Healthcare: Its Present Role and Future Trends April 11, 2009 Use of Internet in Healthcare:Its Present Role and Future Trends The most important revolution seen by humankind is that of the information technology. People are now able to distribute information to anybody and everybody overcoming all kinds of practical barriers including those of time, geography, transportation and such. Today we have all kinds of information at our fingertips, including science, technology, art, education, commerce, medicine, philosophy and so on and so forth. The role of internet in medicine has developed so rapidly that it has revolutionized healthcare. Not only is the Internet today an important source of medical information, but also it is an important tool in the delivery of patient care as well as health education and research. Electronic mail can play a significant role in improving communication and enhancing the relationship both between the physician and the patient, and among physicians of the same and different disciplines (Kapur, 2001, p.133). Communicating through E-mail has several advantages as compared to communicating through any other mode of communication. E-mail is the fastest of all modes of communication and also the cheapest. E-mails can be exchanged across time zones. It is not necessary that both the sender and the receiver are present at the same time for the message to be sent across. All these features render E-mail communication immensely useful in the healthcare sector. Internet, in addition, renders distribution of knowledge easy for educational departments, healthcare institutions, and other organizations related to healthcare, through web sites. The Internet also makes books, journals, magazines and newspapers available online. Besides, there are several ejournals, ezines, ebooks, databases, etc. on healthcare available on the Internet. The recent technological advancements have even made health screening and assessment, and healthcare consultation and delivery possible on the Internet. International chatting on the internet has made revolutionary changes in the healthcare sector as this service helps easy and direct communication possible overcoming the barriers of time, place or distance. Effective and complete communication and sharing of ideas and medical expertise are possible as the Internet enables transmission of voice, text and images. Interactions in the cyberspace by online communities and discussion forums of doctors and other medical experts can help optimal, timely and life-saving decision-making. Interactive health sites are a new development wherein individuals can key in their personal details for making risk assessment of diseases, for health monitoring and for treatment advice. For example, a virtual checkup for women is possible at http://www.allhealth.com/virtualcheckup where a woman has just to key in her personal details such as blood pressure, cholesterol level, lifestyle details, and family profile. (Kapur, 2001, p.135). There are sites that help risk assessment for cancer, osteoporosis, heart diseases, etc., and monitoring of diseases. There are virtual health shops that offer an array of health supplements. Cybersurgery is another revolution that is causing waves in the healthcare sector. Doctors are able to actually view surgeries as and when they are under way in real-time environment. Kapur (2001) cites the example of the gastrointestinal operation undergone by the singer Carnie Wilson where “along with half a dozen doctors and nurses, there were 52,000 people watching the two-hour procedure live on the Net” (p.136). Such endeavors can help the audience and prospective candidates for surgery gain insight into medical procedures and be aware of the need for and the outcomes of such procedures. Telemedicine is a system which facilitates remote consultation, diagnosis and examination of patients over the Internet. Telepathology involves remote primary diagnosis, remote referral and consultation in pathology, remote education, remote presentation of post-mortem and microscopic findings, quality assurance image review, consensus diagnosis in clinical trials, etc. (Kapur, 2001, p.137). Telecardiology involves using ultrasound telecardiology whereby a dynamic image sequence of the heart is transmitted that can be viewed by a consultant from any remote location. Telepsychiatry is a form of telemedicine that enables remote practice of psychiatry. Tele-endoscopy is remote examination of images caught by an endoscope. Telehomecare or home telehealth is the application of telemedicine or telehealth to the home environment. A telehomecare visit is a two-way interactive audio-visual communication between a healthcare provider and a patient at his/her place of residence (Koch, 2005, p.2). The visit involves assessment of the patient’s heart, lung and bowel sounds and obtaining his/her vital signs. Telehomecare also includes educating the patient and his/her family regarding the disease, patient care, self-care, self-monitoring, etc. The Internet renders certain kinds of practical decision-making simple. For example, a patient may be able to learn what a procedure is all about or what a disease name actually means or what could be the alternative treatment options for a disease condition and what could be the cost of treatment. The Internet can also help an individual make a choice of the healthcare center that he should seek treatment with or a nursing facility that he could send his aging relative to. It plays a significant role in emergency medicine by bringing together the patients and the right doctors at the right time. Kapur (2001) quotes the example of an airline patient who was treated during journey midair, 30,000 feet above ground, using information received live on the Internet (p.136). The most important use of the Internet to the common man is that it has made all kinds of information related to medicine and healthcare available to him, which enables him to avoid misuse, abuse and wrong or inappropriate use of drugs due to ignorance. A computer-based patient record (CPR) or electronic patient record (EPR) is the electronically maintained information about an individuals lifetime health status and healthcare. It can include family healthcare history as well as current health problems, physical examination findings, diagnoses, laboratory results, diagnostic study results, referrals, treatment plans, medication information, and treatment results. These records can include voice dictations, graphs, images, and video all combined in a single information package. Traditional patient records could include only textual information such as summarized results deduced by specialists, the storage of which might not be useful for future diagnosis. Computerized patient record components can be integrated into a single patient record to allow personalized utilization of the CPR by different functional units or healthcare providers through navigational facilities, thus providing access to all stored data for a particular patient. The use of electronic medical records is associated with several advantages, most particularly in the area of clinical research. It helps to do away with the chores of taking data from charts or filling out formal datasheets, as the necessary data is directly available from the electronic record. The electronic record can help identify patients who are eligible for a study (Shortliffe, 1999, p.5). In other words, routine clinical records are an important source for research data. Future Trends On the one hand, when the Internet is making all kinds of health information easily accessible to the common man, on the other, it is creating a revolution in the general physician’s clinic whereby doctors can “key in their patients’ symptoms into a computer and receive an instant diagnosis” (Kapur, 2001, p.135). Kapur states that in several rural areas of the UK, doctors are using ISSN-based technology to examine patients 120 miles away. The author predicts that in 20 years’ time, patients may no longer need to travel to a specialist, as diagnosis could be made in their own family doctor’s clinic by the consultant with the help of video images and remote sensors that can relay vital signs and other relevant details of the patient. It is anticipated that it would be possible for doctors to use a DNA database of patients to help set their medication regime for their specific conditions and eliminate possible side effects (Kapur, 2001, p.135). The Internet is also going to see far-reaching advancements in telemedicine. Cyber Medical Center is a project that combines the technologies of multimedia, database management, video-conferencing system and the WWW with the objective of creating a multimedia network system for the electronic management of patients’ records, teleconsultation, online prescription and online continuing medical education and information services (Kapur, 2001, p.136). In the future, it will be possible to build sensors that are almost as powerful as the entire pathology lab whereby the doctor can search a database and look up similar cases with similar symptoms and immediately reach a diagnosis. Soon it will be possible for surgeons to operate remotely on patients thousands of miles away and use virtual reality to allow leading surgeons without leaving their offices to consult around the bed of a patient (Kapur, 2001, p.136). Conclusion Electronic mail can play a significant role in improving communication and enhancing the relationship between the physician and the patient, and among the physicians of the same and different disciplines. Internet makes the distribution of knowledge among the laymen and the exchange of information among healthcare providers easy. The Internet has grown to be an important source of knowledge in all areas of healthcare. Internet renders decision-making on all practical questions of healthcare simple. Remote healthcare, the latest trend in healthcare is going to bring about more revolutionary changes whereby all kinds of specialist consultations for a patient can be done from the family doctor’s clinic if not from his/her own residence. References Kapur, S. (2001). The Internet: Its role in medicine and healthcare. Indian Academy of Clinical Medicine Journal, 2(3), 133-139. Koch, S. (2005). Home telehealth – Current state and future trends. International Journal of Medical Informatics. doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2005.09.002 Shortliffe, E. H. (1999). The evolution of electronic medical records. Academic medicine, 74(4), 414-419. Read More