Services

Telehealth Services in British Columbia

Telehealth is the use of communication technologies to deliver health services over distances. It can be used to collect, organize, and share information for patient assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. It can also be used for research, education, and administration. Telehealth is especially useful in remote or under-serviced areas by improving access to services.

Currently in British Columbia Telehealth is being used to support patients, families and health professionals in the following ways:

Clinical Consultations

Planned consultations
Telehealth provides an option to people living in locations that are remote from medical specialists to receive timely assessment and care planning over a videoconferencing system rather than traveling to access the same services. All Telehealth services are provided over a secure network so that a patient’s privacy is ensured.

Emergent clinical advice
Telehealth allows medical specialists working in larger urban centers within the province to provide advice to practitioners in remote locations who are dealing with unique emergency situations.

Discharge planning
When it’s time to be discharged from the hospital often there is the need for follow-up care provided at a patient’s community hospital or within their home. Telehealth brings the institution’s practitioners together with the clinicians that will be providing follow-up care to ensure that the plan for future treatment is consistent with what is being suggested at the time of discharge.

Diagnostic Image Transfer

A number of hospitals throughout B.C. have the ability to send digital images. Practitioners will send these images to request a consult by a radiologist or forward an image to support a patient visit.

Family Visits

When a patient is hospitalized far from home Telehealth can offer support through virtual visits with family members and friends who cannot travel to the institution.

Education

The health care system is made up of numerous specialized areas of expertise and knowledge. Telehealth can provide a link to specialized practitioners that can teach individuals and other healthcare providers about care requirements and provide answers to their specific questions and concerns.