Implications of Telehealth
What is Telehealth Telemedicine, or telehealth, has continued to grow and is used as a medium for healthcare professionals to communicate and care for patients virtually rather than in-person office visits. As a Registered Dietitian (RD), I can see how this interaction with patients to diagnose, treat, and educate about nutrition issues or nutrition implication in disease could be both beneficial and challenging. Studies examining the effects of telemedicine through various outlets including telephone calls, web-based education, videoconference, television, phone apps and more, have shown improvement in clinical indicators such as hemoglobin A1C reduction in diabetics, improved quality of life, and less visits to clinic and hospital resulting in cost savings (Rush, et. al, 2018). During video conferencing with a patient, the RD teaches patients while using educational materials just as they do in clinic. One difference between in-person versus virtual visits are that RD’s may use more ...