Video conferencing can be done for patients with chronic illnesses that need frequent follow up and fit the guidelines to be monitored from home. Some advanced home health systems, the more expensive ones, can monitor blood pressure readings as well as blood glucose levels from a home terminal. Rural health settings, especially, can benefit from this advanced technology, extending the capabilities of a handful of healthcare professionals to reach clients over a larger geographical area, which would be impractical by a more traditional method of healthcare delivery. Telephone triage is quickly becoming one of the most common uses for telehealth technology. Nurses have been dispensing advice over the phone as long as phones have been around but the new computer aided systems and equipment that are available now are amazing.
Telephone triage is more than answering health questions.
Nurses must rely on their communication skills, knowledge of disease processes and normal growth and development for all age groups in order to ascertain an accurate understanding of the client's symptoms. Triage nurses must have impeccable listening skills to pick up on the non-verbal clues the client is giving regarding pain, anxiety, fear and level of comprehension. Telephone triage is done at many levels. Telephone triage is also known as demand management in the managed care arena. Many HMO's are having patients call into a triage center to discuss their symptoms before they are allowed to go to the emergency room for after-hours medical treatment.