Telemedicine and Telehealth: Principles, Policies, Performance and Pitfalls: Principles, Policies, Performances and Pitfalls - Hardcover

Telemedicine and telehealth are changing the face of health care delivery and becoming a multi-billion dollar industry. Dr. Darkins and Dr. Cary share their knowledge and provide practical insights and advice on making telemedicine programs into successful clinical services and a productive business. The book gives background knowledge and useful tips on starting up and managing programs in an array of settings. Most importantly, the book is based on the recognition that patients are customers of health care and telemedicine companies developing new products vital to delivering care to rural or inaccessible clients is vital to health cares future.

Margaret Ann Cary, MD, MBA, MPH, is a US-trained family physician. Her extensive clinical experience includes practicing in Northern California and Colorado, and directing an emergency room in a remote ski resort. Her extensive knowledge of primary care gives her a familiarity with the challenges of delivering health care far from specialist expertise and of the need to obtain acute health care advice. She moved into medical management after she successfully turned a failing health care facility into a commercial success and her entrepreneurial abilities were recognized. She was an early exponent of the use of telemedicine in primary care situations. Realizing her clinical, managerial, and physician-leadership roles in the state, the Governor of Colorado appointed her to the State Board of Medical Examiners. She served on this Board, the licensing and disciplining agency that regulates physician practice, from 1988 to 1994. This experience gave her firsthand knowledge of the general legal and regulatory framework that underlies the practice of medicine and how this directly impacts the development of telemedicine in the United States. Margaret Cary was actively involved in establishing Denver's World Trade Center at a time when Denver was emerging as a major global center for telecommunications. This work forms the basis for her understanding of the importance of partnerships with telecommunications suppliers in the telephone and cable industries for the future digital delivery of health care services. Dr. Cary formalized her management education at the University of Colorado where she graduated as the Outstanding MBA Graduate of her year. Subsequently she established a health care communications company with areas of interest that have included physician training, leadership development, and the independent production of health care television programs. ||Adam William Darkins, MD, MPH, FRCS, trained as a neurosurgeon in Britain. His clinical background gives him a detailed understanding of the clinical process and the practical difficulties of delivering specialist health care services. During 4 years spent as the medical director at Riverside Community Health Care in London, he implemented telehealth services in the context of contracting to transfer health care services from secondary and tertiary care into primary care. This work directly led to his later use of patient-based clinical information systems to support the brokering of telehealth transactions. He served as a founding member on the board of a national medical directors' organization and worked on major areas of clinical-change management that affect new health care developments. These clinical organizational-change, and business-development skills underpin his capacity to implement successful telehealth programs. He has written and spoken extensively on telehealth and how it fits with future visions of health care delivery systems that are equitable and sustainable. He helped found the Royal Society of Medicine's Telemedicine Forum and cofounded Global Telemed Ltd. This Northern Ireland-based telehealth company gave him his expertise in defining the new business models on which the future commercial provision of telehealth services are now being based. In addition to his clinical and management experience Adam Darkins has worked directly on patient issues. In the early 1990s he directed a joint project between the King's Fund in London and the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making in Hanover, New Hampshire, giving information to patients on treatment choices. He is a past council member of the Patients Association, a national UK patient-advocacy organization. Adam Darkins now lives and works in the United States, where he directs a major telehealth program.