Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Digital-age technology offers great promise for improving access to and quality of health care via transformational care delivery mechanisms.Demand for innovative solutions has been driven by an aging population, high rates of chronic illness, geographic and sociodemographic disparities in access to care, and increasing numbers of insured Americans seeking care in the face of health professional workforce shortages; the AAMC recently projected an estimated shortage of 46,000 primary care clinicians and 45,000 specialists by 2020 [1].Telemedicine or "connected care," facilitated by a range of digital technologies and broadband communications services, can help address many of the above challenges.Telemedicine is an exceptional tool for improving access, care quality, and population health.The field is advancing because of technological innovation, broadband expansion, professional engagement, strong evidence of its effectiveness, and consumer demand, but, for it to be properly integrated into everyday care in the twenty-first century, we must advance beyond twentieth-century public policy.
Source: The AMA Journal of Ethic
Institution: University of Virginia
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W45510155