Younger people access healthcare through email
Patients, carers and their families demand new approaches to care that integrate services around their own needs. Models of telehealth are improved and the mechanisms by which people can avoid acute admissions are well understood. Telehealth prevents acute admissions and identifies when patients could potentially enter acute settings. This results in telehealth becoming mainstream due to Generation Y’s expectations of using fast communications such as email. This enables fast, direct access to GPs, and patients can manage illness or disease that they may have ignored if they had to visit a surgery in person. This method of accessing healthcare prevents acute admissions.
Proposed workforce impact
- There is lower demand in acute settings through increased preventative measures.
- The public may expect services in acute to be quicker, creating the need for more staff in AMU’s.
- More training in technology will provide telehealth/telecare services.
Sources or references
- kingsfund.org.uk/blog/2011/02/future-telehealth-and-telecare-england-knife-edge
- http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.asp?ID=CRD42012002201
- www.radcliffecardiology.com/system/files/private/articles/.../barrett.pdf
Additional research questions
- Can an effective diagnosis be provided remotely in this way? How is this method of demand dealt with?
- Will this lead to regional variations in demand due to some GP services responding to younger people by email?
- Will there be funding for this to reduce demand in acute settings?
Some of the information in this section is provided by stakeholders and expert groups, and does not necessarily represent the views of the CfWI.
