Case studies: online health and telemedicine

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Case studies online health and telemedicine

• Professor Peter C SmithProfessor of Health
  Policy, Imperial College Business School, London

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Online health information

• New possibilities for finding exchanging health
  information
• Possible harms
• inaccurate information
• misuse of personal information

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Examples of recommendations

• Health websites should contain certain key
  details seek accreditation from recognised
  schemes
• Governments should ensure high quality health
  info is available on the web
• Doctors should receive training and advice on
  caring for patients who use the internet to
  access health information

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Online personal health records

• Public private online health records emerging
• Allow users to access, integrate, update and
  share health records
• Potential harms
• misuse of stored information

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Examples of recommendations

• Governments should set up accreditation schemes
  for online health record providers to improve
  transparency and standards
• Providers should give users information about
  data security and legal rights
• Responsible bodies should apply EU data
  protection legislation to online health records
  used by people in the EU

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Buying medicines online

• Offers privacy and convenience
• But, can buy without prescription or illegal
  drugs from other countries
• Potential harms
• harmful, fake or low quality medicines
• miss out on advice from professionals
• increase in antibiotic resistance

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Examples of recommendations

• GB registration scheme should be mirrored in
  other countries
• Government websites should provide information on
  the risks and identifying a registered pharmacy
• Doctors should receive training on caring for
  patients buying medicines online
• Governments worldwide should set regulations on
  the supply of antibiotics in their country

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Telemedicine

• Potential to care for people in their home and
  increase equitable access to healthcare
• Could have positive impact in developing
  countries
• Potential harms
• damage to doctor-patient relationship
• virtual brain drain

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Examples of recommendations

• Telemedicine offered where it can feasibly and
  cost-effectively reduce healthcare inequities
• Impacts on doctor-patient relationship to be
  evaluated
• Telemedicine encouraged in developing countries
  where beneficial, cost-effective and sustainable
• Developed countries to monitor impacts of
  outsourcing healthcare services to developing
  countries via telemedicine, eg on brain drain