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The amount of money Americans are spending for prescription drugs is on the rise. If you ask Hilary Clinton, she will tell you it is the drug companies fault and say that Washington doesn’t have enough control. However, that isn’t anywhere near the case. The main problem more than likely stems from Obamacare.

Obamacare gained a number of followers based on the promise that the total cost would come down as long as Americans gave control over their healthcare to Washington. While that was the promise, that wasn’t exactly what happened. Costs have continued to soar when it comes to healthcare. Prescription drugs is just one of those costs that have risen steadily. Since that new law passed back in 2010, the amount of money spend on medicine has increased by 21 percent.

Because the reasoning behind why the costs going up are complex and confusing, there isn’t a single factor that can explain everything. Obamacare has contributed to the changes in more ways than one. To begin with, Obamacare imposed a tax on prescription drug importers and manufacturers to the tune of $27 billion. As with all tax increases, the consumers are the ones left having to foot the bill.

This shouldn’t really come as a shock when you think about it. The CBO said that Obamacare was going to increase spending in more ways than one long before the law took place. Beyond the new tax, the law also mandated rebates and discounts for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Manufacturers offset costs by increasing the cost of the prescription.

Even though prices are continuously increasing, the amount of insurance people have available to them continues to shrink. Almost every one of the silver plans under Obamacare have restrictions on what type of prescriptions are covered and what ones aren’t. If the drug isn’t on the approved list, the patient is the one who is left having to foot the bill on their own. There are a number of drugs not on the list, including those for cancer, hepatitis C and rheumatoid arthritis.

It’s no wonder why so many Americans are stressing out over what they are supposed to do when it comes to paying for their medical needs. Isn’s it about time that the individual paying for the benefits gets what they need?

There has been a recent rise in curiosity of Telemedicine. This is the ability to deliver health care services including clinical information remotely… it includes the capability to do so using telephone media, internet, wireless services or satellite. Many are excited about telemedicine because it gives patients the opportunity to receive medical care without having to travel to meet with a medical professional in person. It is also a cost effective as well as time efficient for the patients.

Telemedicine also gives healthcare providers the ability to bring costs down by allowing care to be centralized, lower the need for capital and for the amount of buildings that are used for medical facilities. This will lower the amount of staff that is needed to have a successful medical business and building.

Telemedicine also gives doctors the chance to consult with other doctors that may be specialist or have more knowledge that are in a different location from where the other is, especially from state to state. This is a very positive attribute because it can bring major and vast improvements to the health status of the patient.

Telemedicine is also good for patients that have been discharged from the hospital, especially in the first few weeks of being discharged. Telemedicine isn’t just good to get a diagnosis or help from a physician, but it can also be setup to read the vital signs of a patient. So while you are at home, you don’t have to worry about anything happening from the effects of whatever issue had you in the hospital. There will be someone available that is able to remotely read your vitals and should an emergency arise they will be able to see the same information as if you were in the hospital. This is great for older patients to have… it will bring down the cost of a hospital stay; they can still have the help that is needed without the worry of high costs of hospitalization.

With the help of telemedicine, more families are able to receive the care and help they need. It saves time, money and you never know when it will save a life.

Telemedicine is the exchange of useful medical information from one location to another through electronic communications with a sole aim of improving a patient’s health status. Miami children’s hospital in collaboration with Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida has provided a genetic telemedicine program that allows children to receive health care services from highly specialized doctors such as genetic specialists who are only based in larger cities.

Golisano doctors, thanks to video teleconferencing, can now consult with specialists from the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital on cases relating to genetic and metabolic diseases. Golisano medical director, Dr. William Liu shares with us the case of a premature newborn – Felix Escalante- who was delivered 10 weeks early. Dr. Parul Jayaker, a genetic specialist, was able to examine the premature boy using telemedicine technology. Venezia Escalante -Felix’ mother, admitted that the experience was better than traveling all the way to Miami, since it was cost effective and less hectic with a quicker response than those in two waiting rooms.

Two years ago Jonathan Witenko, out of necessity, helped develop the telemedicine device in order to save his 5-year-old daughter who had a head injury. According to the Hospital’s spokeswoman Mary Briggs, Telemedicine has been in use in the hospital since 2014 to help with consulting neurologists in neurological cases suspected to be a stroke. She discloses that the Telemedicine system has 10 devices and costs about $120,000.

Recently discharged patients are also beneficiaries of Telemedicine, with the Equipment being installed in their homes to read their vital signs and pass the same data to the hospital. Senior citizens have also enjoyed a decrease in hospitalization rates and costs due to telemedicine. In fact, the number of trips by senior citizens to hospitals has drastically reduced.

With Telemedicine services rapidly gaining popularity at U.S. hospitals, more families are now able to enjoy specialized health care closer to their homes. This has enabled them to save time and money that would have otherwise been spent on tiresome trips to city hospitals. Smaller communities living in remote areas have also not been left out since the technology has enabled them to have access to specialists.

Telemedicine in Senior Healthcare Leads to Dramatic Decrease in Hospitalization Rates and Costs

Telemedicine gets credit for the reduced number of retirees making trips to access medical treatment. The aging populace can now receive quality healthcare using this top of the range technology from the comfort of their homes. Apart from this, telemedicine brings convenience not only to the patient but also the caregivers, and it simultaneously lowers costs in regards to hospitalization and transport. With that in mind, here are some of the advantages of telemedicine:

No delays and Quick Response: Take into account retirees suffering from one ailment or another and the time encumbered caregivers—waiting rooms can be a place of frustration and anxiety for both patient and caregiver. Telemedicine cancels out waiting room pandemonium to replace this with ease of communication through emails, text messaging and other digital communication.

Recuperating at home: In some cases, patients are discharged but need professional monitoring. Take for an example, diabetic patients, those with chronic obstructive heart conditions (COPD), pneumonia, heart failure among others need caregivers to pay them visits.

Telemedicine brings remote patient monitoring (RPM) facilitates thus, constant contact between patients and nurses so that any arising concerns are addressed with immediacy.

Moreover, this particular telehealth program gives real-time data, giving responsibility for the situation to the patient and the professional caregivers.

Using telemedicine has reduced the number of readmissions drastically. Here is the proof: the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville created and implemented this telehealth program. Results? After the lapse of one year, the center experienced a reduction in its monthly readmission. Furthermore, this total was a 10% decrease as compared to the nation’s average of 17.5%.

Also, further studies on RPM; therefore, telemedicine, reveal this method could successfully stop or reduce readmission of pulmonary-related hospital readmission from 460,000-627,000, annually.

Reduced Costs

In reality, the majority of doctors charge more for a physical visit as opposed to a telehealth consultation. Therefore, access to telemedicine also translates into reduction in transportation expenses and convenient access to healthcare, more so for those residing in rural areas.

A medical study to be conducted in Hutchison will help determine whether adults living with Type 2 Diabetes who receive education and phone coaching is directly associated more improvements in health than those who go without the extra support. The results would give a clearer picture of what telemedicine can help effectively manage diabetes.

It has been proven that healthful lifestyles and medication management play a critical role in the overall health of adults living with diabetes. Patients regularly see positive results when they eat healthfully, stay physically active, and eliminate things like tobacco and stress. But what role can telemedicine play when it comes to keeping a patient on the positive track to managing their medications and living their fullest life?

The study being conducted by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (in a partnership with Hutchinson Health, with funding from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics) hopes to answer:

• Can a team-based approach to care—one that uses registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) to do medication management—help diabetes patients achieve healthful lifestyles?
• Can the approach ultimately improve their D5 measures: blood glucose, statin use, blood pressure, tobacco use and aspirin use.

To carry out the study, a group of 144 Hutchison Health patients with Type 2 Diabetes, age 40-75, will be randomly divided into two groups: a “control” group and an “intervention” group. All of the patients will receive the typical amount of care from their primary care physicians. But only the intervention group will received additional D5 measures-related care from RDNs. The RDNs will provide healthy living coaching sessions and manage prescription medications in coordination with primary care. Baseline tests will be conducted at the beginning of the study, and then again after a year to compare any changes in D5 measures.

Hutchison was determined to be an ideal location to conduct the study because the Minnesota Community Measurement statistics found that only 30 percent of people with Type 2 Diabetes in Hutchison have optimal D5 levels. The statewide average is 53 percent. Hutchinson Health of recently has been offering mental health services through telemedicine and hopes to add services for diabetes type 2 sufferers once a conclusion to the study has been reached.

Telemedicine Making Waves in Primary Urban Health Care Centers

Probable stance

Picture a single mom holding down a full-time job, pegged at an hourly rate, and also encumbered with the care of her two children—none older than five years. Say one of them falls ill, unexpectedly, from an asthmatic attack, flu or an eye infection. Her options seem limited to making a dash for the ER, after hours where she has access to medicine for her child or forfeiting her wages to consult a doctor. But here is the thing; telemedicine is an option. Unfortunately, it is uncharacteristic to get cover for this from significant bodies like Medicaid and Medicare or private payers. Subsequently, this translates to her spending approximately $40-55, if she wants to save time.

Alternative available

Telemedicine has been administered, in times gone by, through urban specialists in the advent to extend services into the rural areas. Keep in mind the inadequate supply of primary care doctors, nationwide, especially in the case of those who specialize and subspecialized. Consider getting a booking to see a doctor is not easy, it can take the duration of six months. And, this is not limited to the rural areas but typical of the urban areas as well. Then again other inconveniences imposed on urban patients are no access to transport, language barriers, and medicinal illiteracy. For these reasons, telemedicine seems a feasible option.

3 Factors hindering Telemedicine

Meanwhile, administration of telemedicine is hindered by:

Licensing: Telemedicine administered by medical practitioners is not readily available if they cannot practice freely state to state. Nonetheless, the Federation of State Medical Boards is actively involved in trying to make this a reality.

Equity: Private payers do not support the purchase of telemedicine in some states and their participation in rural areas is even less. On the other hand, parity laws work to facilitate the availability of telemedicine, more so in the urban areas.

Network: Poor communication network such as access to the internet is common to both the rural and urban areas. Improved cellular and broad facilities can reduce the frustration of patients in their access to telemedicine.

Stated a little differently, telemedicine is a revolutionary tool. Although looking at it from a theoretical point, it looks intricate, challenging and perhaps impractical. These are just a few things that can make telemedicine more effectual, flexible licensing, equity through parity laws, and improved network communication. Results include a healthier population, efficient distribution of medicine and better healthcare.

People who live in certain areas throughout the world have always struggled with getting the medical care and medical attention that they need. Even people who live in cities usually try to make sure that they live relatively close to the hospitals in their cities. Just getting to appointments on a regular basis can be frustrating for people who live in an inconvenient location for an extended period of time.

People who live in places like Alaska’s Denali Wilderness will have to drive miles over country roads in order to get to their doctors. They’re going to have to deal with all of the fluctuations of Alaskan weather in the process, and they’re going to need to make trips like this even during some of the worst moments of their lives. They’re also going to be painfully limited in terms of their options. In some cases, the patients in question might not even bond with their doctors, which is going to leave them at a greater disadvantage. Telemedicine is in the process of changing all of that forever.

It has been demonstrated through research today that tele-behavioral medicine is as effective as approaches to medicine that involve face-to-face communication. Naturally, tele-behavioral medicine is significantly more convenient that traditional methods ever could be, since people don’t even have to leave their homes in order to get the medical attention that they need. Today, telemedicine is becoming increasingly accepted, since even the people who were initially skeptical of the practice are starting to change their minds at last.

This new situation is also significantly more favorable for the doctors themselves, even though they have always had the advantage. Doctors couldn’t just decide to live in rural Alaska if that was what they wanted, since they had to live in a location that was convenient enough for their patients. Today, doctors are now going to get the opportunity to live wherever they want without having to worry about whether or not choosing a particular residence is a sound business decision. Telemedicine is in the process of setting both doctors and patients free forever.

Telemedicine market is expected to be worth over $34 billion globally by the end of 2020, with the United States, accounting for more than 40% of the global market, according to the new market research report published by Mordor Intelligence. However, such predictions did not account for the large telehealth market expected in the next five years.

There are currently over 200 telemedicine networks, with close to 4000 service sites in the united states, according to the American Telemedicine Association. Approximately two million Americans are using a remote cardiac monitor, and over five million do remote consultations, using telemedicine. More than half of the United State’s hospitals now use some form of telemedicine, while millions of patients across the world use telemedicine to monitor their vital symptoms.

Why Telemedicine is on the Rise

The key driving for telemedicine market is the rising cost of health care, increasing aged population, lack of appropriate infrastructure in hospitals to contain a large number of patients and rising prevalence of chronic diseases. The telemedicine is the solution that we can apply for various health care sectors to help meet the demand. Addressing rural healthcare issues, bringing on site healthcare to schools, or monitoring the in-home health of the elderly, it surely eliminates the barrier of the traditional health care across the globe.

Telemedicine Changing the Healthcare Sector

Currently, the healthcare sector is in the midst of health professional shortage in various parts of the world. This is because of the ageing and growing population, the increased incidents of chronic diseases and lack of appropriate infrastructure in most private practices, universities, clinics and hospitals, making it difficult for patients to access quality health care services. Fortunately, telemedicine is the right solution that can be used across health sectors to control these barriers. It enables specialists and primary care providers to monitor patients remotely, offering the best solution for their problems.

Ultimately, telemedicine is an exponentially growing medical niche with no signs of slowing down. It improves overall health quality for patients in need!

The need for telemedicine in the urban setting is greater than ever. The United States in particular has too few primary care physicians to meet the needs of the population and, more people are faced with a lack of time, transportation, or resources to spend a day at the doctor’s office. With the use of telemedicine, more of the people that need medical care can access it.

Consider the Lack of Providers

Some surveys have found that nearly 80 percent of adults visit emergency rooms because they do not have another provider to turn to and 48 percent go because their doctor is not available. This lack of access to doctors limits a person’s ability to get care. But it is not the only reason that telemedicine can change the overall well being of patients.

How Telemedicine Changes Urban Care

With the use of telemedicine, it becomes possible to reach a larger group of people in a more practical way. The same doctor can treat numerous patients in a far more streamlined manner without having to have patients come in. Imagine, for example, a single mother who has a child that has an ear infection. She is forced to miss work, and therefore pay, to visit a doctor’s office when she already likely knows that the child is ill, knows what the child needs, and doesn’t need an extensive testing.

Nevertheless, there are many struggles to establishing telemedicine in today’s urban setting. It may not meet the requirements, for example, of Medicare or Medicaid. In some cases, there is the need for physicians to have licensing updates to provide further coverage beyond traditional state borders. And, communication infrastructure needs to be updated to ensure a lack of resources does not limit Internet connectivity for these patients.

However, when proper structures are in place, individuals can thrive using telemedicine over other types of treatment options ultimately saving government-sponsored health programs money and improving overall quality of life for those in need.

Technology that can supposedly monitor someone’s heart rate is nothing new. People in the health and fitness community have been using it for decades now. However, many of these heart rate monitors have been notoriously unreliable. Advances in telemedicine may now be giving people heart rate monitoring equipment that will give them much more accurate results.

The AliveCor Mobile Heart Monitoring Using Medical-grade Electrocardiogram (ECG) Kardia Band for Apple Watch may change telemedicine forever. This EKG band distinguishes itself by actually being medical grade, so it’s capable of giving people results that are reliable. The associated Apple Watch application interprets the data that the sensors in the device receive.

Using the Apple Watch application, people can send their doctors EKG readings and accompanying voice memos, so their doctors can get a sense of the functioning of their patients’ hearts throughout the day. In conjunction with other health monitoring applications, people can more or less keep track of their well-being by the minute with a device like the AliveCor Mobile Heart Monitoring Using Medical-grade Electrocardiogram (ECG) Kardia Band for Apple Watch.

This product is aimed at people who have heart conditions or people who are at risk for heart conditions. Even a few seconds can matter when it comes to heart conditions, and doctors that are receiving information about the state of someone’s heart by the second are going to be much better equipped to deal with the situation. However, given that this is technically a mainstream product, almost anyone who was actually interested in health monitoring would be able to benefit from a device like this one.

Devices like this are making it easier and easier for doctors to operate remotely. Patients don’t actually have to go in for tests that will assess their heart health if they have access to devices like this. They can give doctors a sense of their health all the time, and not just during their annual physicals or during routine tests.