Telehealth in Libraries: Reducing Barriers to Health Care

Posted by Darlene Kaskie on June 5th, 2023 Posted in: Blog

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NNLM introduces a new national course, Telehealth 101: What Libraries Need to Know. It is a three- hour MLA accredited course to help earn your Consumer Health Information Specialization Level 2 certification. It’s also an introduction to how public libraries are supporting telehealth services in their communities.

What is telehealth?

The Health Resources Services Administration defines telehealth as the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. Technologies include:

• Videoconferencing
• The internet
• Store-and-forward imaging
• Streaming media
• Terrestrial and wireless communications

Telehealth differs from telemedicine because it encompasses a broader scope of remote healthcare services. Telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services. Telehealth, in addition to clinical services, includes remote non-clinical services such as:

• Provider training
• Administrative meetings
• Continuing medical education

In addition to telemedicine technologies, Telehealth includes direct, electronic patient-to-clinician interactions. It also includes medical devices that collect and transmit health information to help monitor or manage chronic conditions. Examples of medical devices include:

• Smartphone apps
• Activity trackers
• Automated reminders
• Blood glucose monitors

 Why is telehealth helpful?

It may surprise you to know that telehealth has been a part of our healthcare system since 1959 when University of Nebraska clinicians transmitted neurological examinations across campus to medical students.* Although it hasn’t been a prominent part of healthcare until more recently when COVID-19 accelerated its adoption for home-care delivery of patient care, telehealth now is widely considered an important mechanism to promote more equitable health outcomes.

*Nesbitt, Thomas S., and Jana Katz-Bell. “History of Telehealth.” Understanding Telehealth Eds. Karen Schulder Rheuban, and Elizabeth A. Krupinski. McGraw Hill WorldCat AccessMedicine

By removing barriers, telehealth:

• Improves healthcare access for people who live in rural or isolated communities
• Makes health care services more convenient for people with limited mobility, time, childcare or transportation options
• Reduces risk of exposure to illness and infectious diseases.
• Improves access to specialty providers, prescription management, lab results, mental health and wellness consultation and management of chronic conditions

How can libraries improve access to telehealth?

Libraries are well positioned to serve as telehealth access points. Libraries can help mitigate some of the known barriers to healthcare such as geographical location, lack of transportation, or Internet access. How?

Libraries:

• Are a trusted public space available in most communities small and large
• Provide computers and reliable broadband connectivity
• Offer privacy and safety for individuals who may not have those things in their personal environment or dwelling
• Respond to community health needs* (e.g., distributing COVID-19 test kits, sponsoring food banks, and facilitating health and wellness programs for pop-up vaccination sites)

* The American Library Association created a special report about the ways public, academic, and school libraries all responded to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What will you learn from taking the NNLM class?

For libraries discovering how to facilitate telehealth services in their community, the class will:

• Address privacy and ethical considerations
• Showcase the various technology and infrastructure models for telehealth
• Suggest ancillary support for telehealth (e.g., lending devices or hot spots, providing digital literacy skills training, or developing a consumer print collection, and referencing MedlinePlus)

When is the class scheduled?

We are offering this course at two separate times this summer:

• June 12 – July 12
• July 10 – August 7

We will try to offer it again in the fall, if there is demand. Additionally, an expert speaker webinar series is in development for the Winter and Spring of 2024. Sign up for an account with NNLM to receive news related to this course and other training opportunities.

Where do I find more information about telehealth?

Explore these website resources to learn more about Telehealth:

• The Telehealth Resource Center (HRSA)
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS): Telehealth
• Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP): Telehealth resources
• American Telemedicine Association
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Telehealth evidence map