Department of Nutrition and Food Services, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Neha Shah Nutrition, San Francisco, California, USA.
Nutr Clin Pract. 2021 Aug;36(4):739-749. doi: 10.1002/ncp.10641. Epub 2021 Mar 18.
The term telehealth is often used interchangeably with telemedicine. Telemedicine involves the electronic exchange of medical information between two remote sites for the optimization of patient care, whereas telehealth is the application of all electronic communication and delivery systems in the provision of healthcare. Telehealth gives patients an opportunity to communicate with their healthcare providers and, overall, access ambulatory care that otherwise is not available in their area of residence. Several telehealth delivery systems are available for electronic communication. Telehealth and other communications technologies used in the delivery of healthcare services are regulated at both the federal and state levels. Coverage and payment policies vary among the different insurers (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, and private plans), and policies may further be defined by state telehealth parity laws. Telenutrition involves the use of digital technology to provide nutrition care to patients and caregivers and shows potential to optimize nutrition care and outcomes. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has contributed to sweeping legislative and regulatory changes that allowed the temporary expansion of telehealth delivery and reimbursement to maintain continuity of care for patients who were not able to come in for an in-person office visit with their healthcare provider. The purpose of this review is to introduce key concepts of telehealth delivery systems including policy, legal, and regulatory considerations for ambulatory care as well as the role of telenutrition in nutrition care, and highlight the evolving role of telehealth in optimizing patient and nutrition care during a pandemic and beyond.
远程医疗一词常与远程医疗互换使用。远程医疗涉及在两个远程站点之间电子交换医疗信息，以优化患者护理，而远程医疗则是在提供医疗保健服务中应用所有电子通信和交付系统。远程医疗使患者有机会与他们的医疗保健提供者进行沟通，并且总体上可以获得他们居住地区无法获得的门诊护理。有几种远程医疗交付系统可用于电子通信。远程医疗和在医疗服务交付中使用的其他通信技术在联邦和州两级受到监管。不同保险公司（例如，医疗保险、医疗补助和私人计划）的覆盖范围和支付政策各不相同，政策可能会进一步由州远程医疗均等化法律定义。远程营养涉及使用数字技术为患者和护理人员提供营养护理，并显示出优化营养护理和结果的潜力。2019 年冠状病毒病大流行促成了全面的立法和监管改革，允许临时扩大远程医疗的提供和报销范围，以维持无法亲自到医疗保健提供者办公室就诊的患者的护理连续性。本综述的目的是介绍远程医疗交付系统的关键概念，包括对门诊护理的政策、法律和监管考虑因素，以及远程营养在营养护理中的作用，并强调远程医疗在大流行期间及以后优化患者和营养护理方面的不断发展作用。
