Disasters disrupt normal healthcare by damaging infrastructure and limiting access to doctors and nurses. Telemedicine helps by allowing healthcare to continue remotely when meeting in person is hard or not possible. Research from Saudi Arabia shows telemedicine improves communication and patient care during emergencies, scoring about 3.7 out of 5 in both areas. These results are similar to what is needed in the U.S., where fast and clear communication between patients and providers is very important.
Telemedicine helps emergency teams work together better by sharing patient details, test results, and treatment plans from different locations. It lets specialists offer advice even if they are not at the disaster site. This reduces the need to move patients or have them visit hospitals in person, easing the pressure on busy emergency rooms during disasters.
A major problem stopping telemedicine from being used more in disasters is a lack of good infrastructure. Disasters often break down phone and internet networks and cause power outages. This makes it hard to use telemedicine technology. Cities in the U.S. usually have good internet and hospital tech systems, but many rural and poor areas do not have strong, fast internet. This creates trouble for healthcare groups trying to send out telemedicine quickly during emergencies.
Another issue is the availability of proper equipment. Devices like smartphones, computers, cameras, and health monitors must be easy to carry, strong, and work with telemedicine software. New technology, like wearable devices that track health measures in real time, can help doctors check patients remotely. Examples include wireless heart monitors and smart glasses to improve communication. But these tools need money and support, and not all healthcare providers can afford or maintain them.
A study of rural U.S. hospitals shows this clearly. Setting up telehealth systems in these places can cost $17,000 to $50,000 with extra yearly fees over $60,000. Because rural hospitals see fewer patients, it is harder to pay for these costs. Also, many rural areas have weak internet, which limits the telehealth apps that need a lot of data.
Hospitals must prepare by building telemedicine systems that can handle power cuts and internet failures. Backup power, satellite internet, and mobile telemedicine carts are examples of tools that help keep telemedicine working when usual networks fail.
Even if the technology is good, healthcare workers must learn how to use telemedicine tools well during disasters. Research shows that while users feel somewhat confident (scoring 3.41 out of 5) in using telemedicine, there is room to improve. Different users feel different levels of comfort, so ongoing training and hands-on practice are needed.
Training is important for several reasons:
Researcher Jameel Abualenain says that practical training helps users feel telemedicine is easier and more dependable. Simulation drills and real practice in emergencies can help reduce doubts about telemedicine’s limits.
To make telemedicine work well in disasters, it is not enough to train healthcare workers and fix technology. The community must also understand and accept it. People who have never used telehealth before may not trust remote care or may not know how it works, especially in rural and low-income areas.
This lack of awareness can slow down telemedicine use and make it less effective in disasters. Studies also show that factors like gender affect how health workers see telemedicine. For example, male participants agreed less that telemedicine improves communication during disasters, possibly due to cultural or experience differences.
Awareness programs should:
Hospitals and emergency services should reach out to communities early, so patients and their families are ready to use telemedicine when disasters occur.
Besides training, infrastructure, and awareness, money and reimbursement rules affect telemedicine’s long-term use in disaster care. Rural hospitals in the U.S. often have trouble recovering telehealth costs because payments usually go to the remote specialists, not the local hospital where the patient stays. This discourages rural hospitals from spending a lot on telemedicine tech.
This money problem means fewer hospitals can keep telemedicine services active during disasters when they are most needed. Groups like the National Rural Health Association want policy changes like better payment models, grants, and subsidies to make telemedicine fair and available across all areas.
Using artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation can improve telemedicine in disaster response, especially in managing the front office of healthcare facilities. For example, Simbo AI offers AI-powered phone answering and call handling services. These tools help medical managers and IT staff improve communication and reduce problems during disasters.
How AI helps telemedicine:
By adding these tools, healthcare groups can improve workflows and patient communication in telemedicine. This helps patients and lowers the load on staff during disasters.
To overcome telemedicine challenges in disaster management, medical office managers, owners, and IT staff in the U.S. need a plan that focuses on training, infrastructure, and community work all at once.
Key actions include:
Telemedicine is useful for healthcare during disasters. But success depends on solving real problems with infrastructure, training, and awareness, especially in rural and poor areas. AI and automation tools can help make telemedicine work better and faster in emergencies.
Healthcare leaders and IT staff in the U.S. can get ready by focusing on these needs. This way, when disaster happens, telemedicine will be prepared to support patients and healthcare workers well.
Telemedicine enhances disaster response by enabling remote consultations, diagnostics, and patient monitoring, particularly when traditional healthcare systems face disruption.
The study found that telemedicine significantly improved communication and patient care during disasters, though there were concerns about its ease of use and reliability.
A descriptive survey design was used, targeting 100 professionals at the National Health Emergency Operations Center, utilizing a structured questionnaire administered electronically via WhatsApp.
The survey had 75 participants, primarily aged 24-34 years, with a majority being male and most having 6-10 years of experience in emergency management.
Participants showed skepticism about telemedicine fully substituting in-person consultations, rating it lower in potential for replacement compared to other benefits.
The regression analysis revealed that gender significantly influenced perceptions, with male participants less likely to agree that telemedicine improves communication.
Barriers included a lack of training, privacy concerns, high technology costs, and skepticism about reliability and effectiveness in replacing face-to-face consultations.
The ease of use received a moderate mean score of 3.41, indicating that while many found it easy to use, training and familiarization were still needed.
Recommendations included enhancing technological infrastructure, providing training, developing tailored software, fostering collaboration, and raising community awareness about telemedicine.
The study concluded that telemedicine has positive perceptions among healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia but requires addressing significant barriers for successful integration into disaster management.
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