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COPYRIGHT 2006 A Thomson Healthcare Company
E-health carry benefits, drawbacks for occ-health
Remote care key issues include privacy, accuracy
Electronic communications and media have vastly expanded the reach of health care, enabling nurses to screen sick or injured employees who are hundreds of miles away.
Cyber medicine or telehealth or e-health encompasses any health care practice that utilizes computers, telephonic communication, handheld data sources, the internet, and any other electronic tool or resource. It's tailor made, in many regards, for occupational health settings.
"It's a low-cost form of medical service in the occupational setting," says Randi Kopf, JD, MS, RN, a nurse and attorney who specializes in health care issues. "You don't need to have a nurse or doctor on staff if you have a cyber examination room."
A cyber examination room might be little more than a dedicated private space equipped with a telephone and a computer-mounted webcam, she says. A physician or nurse at the other end can talk with and see the employee, and depending on how elaborate the cyber exam room, obtain blood pressure, temperature, blood glucose levels, and other diagnostic data.
E-health got its start in the early 1990s during Operation Desert Storm, when military doctors needed to be able to evaluate and treat injured soldiers in the field. Doctors found they could use laptop computers linked via satellite to advise medics in the field when the doctors could not be there in person.
"It's just grown tremendously from there, to the point that we now have doctors doing robotic surgery on patients in other parts of the world via satellite," says Kopf.
Nursing, particularly home health nursing, quickly...
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