eHealth

Faster, safer, better healthcare

Telehealth

Telehealth uses videoconferencing and supporting technologies to put patients in touch with health professionals across distances. It is especially useful in remote areas where patients have to travel long distances to meet health professionals. For patients it:

• reduces the travel burden, particularly for elderly people and those with young children;
• provides access to a wider range of specialist advice and services; and
• deliver faster, more efficient health care by using technology to remove the distance barrier;

Telehealth can also:

• be used for general health promotion, and continuing professional education, when the participants are in separate locations;
• reduce CO2 emissions by reducing distance traveled by physicians and patients;
• improve recruitment and retention of staff (less isolation/greater satisfaction, continuing professional development) in rural and remote locations; and
• make communications between professionals easier and improve team-based approaches to care between different health care providers around B.C.

In 2008 the Ministry of Health Services has formed a Telehealth Office to facilitate the design and implementation of Telehealth solutions.  The Office collaborates with Telehealth experts, information technology leaders, University of British Columbia School of Medicine, Health Authority and First Nations representatives from across the Province. Previous experiences and lessons learned in implementing Telehealth systems in other Canadian jurisdictions are leveraged.

For more information on BC Telehealth contact the BC Provincial Telehealth Office:

(250) 387-3987 or email: TELEHLTH@gov.bc.ca .

First Nations

The Telehealth Project

Telehealth Videos (Courtesy of VIHA)