tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685560256628587439.post5951743957979322702..comments2023-07-10T07:12:16.641-04:00Comments on The Female Perspective of Computer Science: Telemedicine's Role in the Future of Health CareGail Carmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14173555781667297996noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685560256628587439.post-20523865520678340132008-09-19T08:30:00.000-04:002008-09-19T08:30:00.000-04:00The information we have found in this blog is wond...The information we have found in this blog is wonderful that explains about the tele medicine's role which is easy to provide and maintain the <A HREF="http://www.medicalcharting.com/" REL="nofollow"> medical patient record </A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685560256628587439.post-9332440465505605452008-04-13T00:26:00.000-04:002008-04-13T00:26:00.000-04:00Well I'm glad you're broadening your scope to look...Well I'm glad you're broadening your scope to look at implementation!<BR/><BR/>I looked up the stats and over 95% of Canadian hospitals are non-profit (however, the directors of these hospitals still take home hefty 6-figure salaries). The federal government funds hospitals by leasing them for periods of 25-30 years at a time. It also pays set fees for each service a physician performs (eg. physical exam, follow-up, surgery, etc). <BR/><BR/>In a private practice, a doctor would take home income per service. However, hospitals usually pay their doctors a salary or on another established pay structure. The government is still paying per-service, so the difference between all the doctors' per-service claims and salaries is surplus that goes towards the hospital (which is fine for physicians, because practicing in a hospital means not paying overhead (no lease, no equipment to buy, no staff to hire). Of course, the hospitals put their surplus into the aforementioned expenses. Now, a hospital that is smart and money-wise will have more leftover money than one that is not (hence the 'business' aspect -you know how there is an MBA? Well the hospital equivalent is an MHA). Additionally, there are certain medical services that are not funded by provincial health plans (varies by province), so these services are also income. <BR/><BR/>A virtual hospital could make money in the same ways. Of course the range of services would be much smaller than that of a hospital. A hospital also brings in money through research (again, government-funded). This touches on an issue I have with the academic machine, in that public tax dollars fund research that can be turned into personal profit through patents and inventions. Also, the journals that publish research articles are inaccessible to the public that funds them (often subscriptions are required, and the language is not comprehensible to lay-people). BUT, I digress...<BR/><BR/>I'm sure if you think about it, there are novel ways to bring in profit for a virtual hospital... I'm not going to list any because they are inherently evil (healthcare should not be a profit margin!). I just couldn't resist a thought exercise in picking out the loopholes of our system ;-)<BR/><BR/>I think this idea (the non-profit version) is a real probability in the future. Maybe as virtual medical offices, or as regular hospitals that have 1 or more units that are virtual.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03058956244399779825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685560256628587439.post-6305819680039186362008-04-12T11:02:00.000-04:002008-04-12T11:02:00.000-04:00Wow Anu, thanks for such a great comment! I learne...Wow Anu, thanks for such a great comment! I learned a lot from it. The reason I wrote about this is that I did a presentation about it in a medical computing class I am taking this semester (we look at various issues in terms of technologies and algorithms, but not generally social and other implications). I didn't know that hospitals were actually for-profit businesses. I could definitely see virtual hospitals popping up - especially since you can even do telesurgery today! How would it make money? (How do current hospitals make money?)Gail Carmichaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14173555781667297996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1685560256628587439.post-25391893458018642672008-04-11T19:21:00.000-04:002008-04-11T19:21:00.000-04:00Think about this: a virtual hospital! I'll get to ...Think about this: a virtual hospital! I'll get to that in a moment.<BR/><BR/>Wow, did you research all this out of interest/curiosity? You came up with a good compilation of the pertinent issues. I didn't know you had this blog going, it's great! As a little aside, I especially like the aesthetics of the banner at the top ;)<BR/><BR/>Innovations such as telemedicine and home care are hot topics in my courses. It is unfortunate that medicine may be moving to a place where personal contact is excluded from the patient/physician relationship; yet at the same time I understand that such a reality is becoming increasingly necessary, as it is the lesser of two evils. <BR/><BR/>An interesting issue for your field is the public-private mix. Our current system is publicly funded privatized care (public tax dollars fund care in privatized hospitals (most don't realize a hospital is a business from which people gain profits). As you mentioned, there are a handful of government-funded initiatives (such as the Ontario Telemedicine Network) but the software or technology developed for these purposes may be developed through governement funding, or can be purchased from a private developer. Taking this idea further, if you are a large operation you could potentially set up and implement such a network by yourself. Doctors work for private businesses (hospitals), so I'm pretty sure a software or technology company could set up their own virtual hospital. The condition is that they could not charge patients (as is the case for hospitals), but there are still ways to profit (just as hospitals do). Could have some interesting implications... <BR/><BR/>There would be privacy issues with medical records, but release of such information is up to the patient's discretion. There are still issues with electronic security but from my understanding the progress on that front is pretty good. If anyone is interested in this type of stuff, health informatics is a good field to look into.<BR/><BR/>Wow, my brain is running in all directions with this virtual hospital idea... all we need now are some investors!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03058956244399779825noreply@blogger.com