Telehealth: A myth or reality?

Decreased birth rate and improved medical treatments result in growth of the elderly population and a constant increase of health care costs. The breakthrough of information and communication technologies in the health care could contribute to diminution of such trends in the near future, expecting the new generations of potential patients and medical personnel to accept new technologies on a day-to-day basis. Several studies have been done during the last five years to assess the applicability, financial relevance, patient satisfaction and feasibility of telehealth in all its variants: telemedicine, telecare, telemonitoring and self-monitoring. The telehealth has been introduced using various modalities of equipment, including fixed and mobile phones, touch pads, internet and specialized hardware with various benefits and obstacles. In this paper, we analyze various circumstances that could stimulate or obstruct the further development of telehealth. We evaluate its efficacy and cost-effectiveness on a test-case from early post hospital care, taking into account direct and indirect costs and savings, together with healthcare quality, patient commodity and perception, safety and privacy, and new options for permanent personalized treatment.