Telemedicine and Toxicology: Back to the Future? - Enexticu- Where Every Life Counts

Nov 14 2022

In the world of medicine, telemedicine is still a relatively young technique. Its original goal was to reduce healthcare inequities brought on by geography, socioeconomic position, and/or geographic isolation. Telemedicine will aid patients who are very drunk in medical, economic, and technical ways. The management system for telemedicine will play a significant role in the future in helping to save the lives of patients who are very drunk. Until recently, providing basic and emergency healthcare to people in remote geographic locations was the most often used application of video telemedicine. Facilitating specialty and sub-specialty consultations amongst doctors over large distances. Providing basic and urgent medical care to prisoners in prison.

Emergency rooms frequently encounter poisoning situations. The clinical outcomes seen by poisoned people vary on a variety of factors, including the dose, the duration of exposure, and the patient’s pre-existing health. The majority of patient outcomes will be favorable if poisoning is identified quickly and the proper supportive treatment is started. The purpose of this essay is to provide the fundamental ideas for diagnosing and treating the poisoned patient.

My realization that medical toxicologists were among the first forerunners in the field of telemedicine came to me as I thought back on the experience of this video diagnostic. However, telemedicine is expanding and evolving quickly in terms of its nature. The barriers to the growth of more advanced tele toxicology are similar to those governing tele stroke. In an already financially troubled poison control system, the initial capital investment in secure AV equipment, terminals, and electronic networks may appear overwhelming. Once this investment has been made, there are still many administrative and regulatory controls on the transmission of patient information. Finally, there are the questions of cost/benefit and reimbursement. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services currently allow for reimbursement of telemedicine services via a variety of CPT codes and modifiers, but there are restrictions on payment intended to improve the delivery of care to rural and underserved communities. Cost/benefit analysis of telemedicine programs can be challenging, as the costs and benefits are distributed unequally between the referring “spoke” facilities and the receiving “hub” hospitals and depend on transfer rates between facilities.

Captured charges may depend heavily on the payer mix of the population being served and on individual insurers.

Limitation and Future Opportunities:

Conclusion:

Our team was successful at implementing a telehealth toxicology service. Future actions should ensure the sustainability and expansion of this resource nationally through local capacity building. This is best achieved through a partnership and formal collaboration between various hospitals.