Telemedicine Brings Health Care Home to Ease Aging in Place for Seniors

Telemedicine eases aging in place

By Lynn Wilson, Founder of The CareGiver Partnership

With more than half of U.S. hospitals using some form of telemedicine for patient treatment, the elderly have new options in cost-effective, life-saving health care.

More than half of all U.S. hospitals now use some form of telemedicine to diagnose and treat patients in remote locations, according to a Feb. 3 MedCity News article citing the American Telemedicine Association. This two-way, real-time interactive communication between patients and health care providers eases the burden on seniors by providing cost-effective access to life-saving care.

Telemedicine has the potential to bring fast, easy, cost-effective health care home to seniors, giving them access to expert health care using a laptop and Internet access. From a technology that began as storing and forwarding digital records, to videoconferencing that eventually will become part of the standard of care, these innovations will help our seniors to safely live in their own homes for as long as possible.

Telemedicine technology has the potential to benefit the elderly in several important ways:

• It saves time and transportation costs, reducing wait times and long drives to and from primary care providers and specialists.

• It allows them to stay independent longer. Seniors remain living in their own homes, family members won’t have to provide 24-hour monitoring or care, and the patient may experience improved mental status by staying independent.

• It improves the outcome in time-sensitive cases such as monitoring stroke symptoms. The quicker a patient is diagnosed and sent to a hospital for treatment, the better the outcome.

As a company whose mission is to help seniors age in place with normalcy and dignity, we look forward to seeing what telemedicine technology can do for our elderly population in the future.

Read more about Medicaid and telemedicine.

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About The CareGiver Partnership. The CareGiver Partnership helps caregivers and their

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loved ones with answers to their caregiving questions, including information about home health care products and supplies, from our Wisconsin-based team of Product Specialists who are all current or former caregivers. The company’s Web site provides the largest online library of resources on subjects most important to caregivers — from arthritis to assisted living, and Parkinson’s to prostate cancer — as well as access to more than 3,000 home care products for incontinence, skin care, mobility, home safety and daily living aids. The CareGiver Partnership was founded in 2004 by Lynn Wilson of Neenah, Wis. Visit http://www.caregiverpartnership.com to learn more or call 1-800-985-1353. Help support this ad-free blog by answering several questions about caregiving here. It will take just two minutes.

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