Is Telemedicine the Same as Telehealth?
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, you’ve probably been hearing the words “telemedicine” and “telehealth” quite frequently. Both terms refer to the use of telecommunications technologies to help people get and stay healthy from a distance. While they are often used interchangeably—which is fine for the most part—there are some differences between the two.
What Is Telehealth?
As defined by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, telehealth is “the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health administration.”
Telehealth services can be delivered in four ways:
- Video conferencing – A real-time, face-to-face meeting in which all participants can interact with each other, such as a doctor-patient consult or a remote training session for physicians
- Store and forward – The transmission of previously recorded images, video, or text with no real-time interaction among the participants; e.g., a patient takes a photo of a suspicious mole and texts it to a dermatologist
- Remote patient monitoring (RPM) – The transmission of health-related data, such as blood pressure, blood oxygen, or blood glucose readings, as measured by a wearable biosensor or other electronic device
- Mobile health (mHealth) – The use of a mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet, to transmit health information; e.g., a surgeon texts preoperative instructions to a patient
What Is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine is narrower than telehealth in that it is limited to the delivery of clinical care. In other words, telemedicine is the practice of medicine through the use of telecommunications to deliver health care from a distance. Instead of being in the same room, the patient and provider are connected by technology.
In sum, all telemedicine is also telehealth. Telemedicine refers to clinical patient care, while telehealth encompasses a broader collection of educational, administrative, and other non-clinical health care activities.
If you have questions regarding telemedicine vs. telehealth, contact South Tampa Immediate Care in Tampa, FL. Or, if you’d like to take advantage of our telemedicine services, book a virtual visit today.
