TELEHEALTH: How New Technologies Are Transforming Health Care

Telehealth combines telecommunications and health systems to deliver care and support across distances. However, this simple definition belies the complexity of this rapidly evolving field. A cadre of increasingly sophisticated technologies — matched with a need to reduce healthcare costs, serve more patients, and improve quality — drives the field in both high-income and low-income countries. Panelists in this Forum event examined aspects of telehealth in the U.S., including doctor and patient buy-in and the impact of the Affordable Care Act, and in other high-income countries. They also took a look at the role of telehealth in low-income countries, where technologies such as mobile phones can serve as vital tools for healthcare workers to ensure and evaluate standards of care in the diagnosis and treatment of common illnesses.

Part of The Dr. Lawrence H. and Roberta Cohn Forums, this webcast was presented May 15, 2015 in collaboration with The Huffington Post.

Watch the entire series from The Forum at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health at www.ForumHSPH.org.