Jon Belsher is a healthcare business executive. Jon is an innovative forward-thinker who enjoys studying new advances, like telehealth, in healthcare technology.

1. THAT’SONELESSTRIPTO
THEDOCTOR’SOFFICE,
ONELARGESTEPFOR
HUMANKINDBy: Jon Belsher
WWW.JONBELSHER.COM
Telehealth:

2. VIRTUALREALITY
is coming to be one of the twenty-first century’s newest fads.
From swimming with whales to visiting the top of Mt. Everest,
one can truly “do it all” in this new virtual environment. Even if
one cannot visit far off places using virtual reality, these
experiences are still accessible through videos and even audio
recordings. These modalities offer the ability to see and interact
with something (far) beyond the immediate environment.
Over time, people have become busier and travel has become
costly and time-consuming. As a result, technology has allowed
people to video chat, phone conference, or email one another
instead of physically visiting one another. In more recent times,
the medical industry has taken note of these changes and
developed something new as a result.

3. IT'SCALLED
TELEHEALTH

4. TELEHEALTHISARAPIDLY
ACCELERATINGTREND
in today’s healthcare industry, providing patients with the ability to remotely
connect with their healthcare providers. According to the National Telehealth
Policy Resource Center at the Center for Connected Health Policy, “telehealth
encompasses a broad variety of technologies and tactics to deliver virtual medical,
health, and education services. Telehealth is not a specific service, but a collection
of means to enhance care and education delivery.” They continue that telehealth,
“encompasses four distinct domains of applications,” which are the following: live
video, store-and-forward, remote patient monitoring, and mobile health.

5. TOUNDERSTANDHOWTHISNEWFIELDOF
HEALTHCAREDELIVERYISPLAYINGOUT,LISTEN
TOCONTRIBUTINGAUTHOR,ISSIELAPOWSKY,A
WRITERFOR,“POLITICSANDNATIONAL
AFFAIRS,”ATWIREDMAGAZINE:
“UnitedHealthcare today is announcing a partnership with three telemedicine
companies to cover video-based doctor visits just as it covers in-person visits. The
tech set has for decades predicted that we would one day get our medical care via
video chat, but it wasn’t until recently that forward-thinking physicians started
taking the promise of telemedicine seriously. The decision by so influential a
player in the healthcare industry to telemedicine is the strongest sign yet that the
technology is entering the mainstream.”

6. So, what do you personally have to look forward to in this new world of
telehealth? Well, ask yourself this question. When you are sick with the flu, do you
want to get out of bed, get dressed, drive to the doctor’s office, wait in the waiting
room, see the doctor, go to the pharmacy, and then go home? Or, alternatively, do
you want to stay in bed, meet with the doctor for a few minutes once he/she is
ready for you via video, phone, text, or app-usage, and then go back to sleep,
perhaps ultimately with your prescription dropped at your doorstep? The answer is
probably pretty easy.

7. TELEHEALTHISONTHERISEANDHERETO
STAY.HOWWILLTHISAFFECTYOUR
CARE?DOYOUTHINKITCANIMPACT
YOURDIAGNOSES?DOYOUTHINKITWILL
BEAHELPORAHINDRANCE?TWEETME
@JONBELSHERTOCONTINUETHE
CONVERSATION!