Participants at a Future Trends Round Table chaired by Dr Michael Dixon OBE at The King’s Fund on Thursday December 8, 2011, agreed that telehealth could only deliver benefits if it is implemented as part of fully integrated healthcare services involving social care, primary care, secondary care and self care by patients. The Round Table was organised by Salix Consulting and Appello Telehealth, to coincide with the publication of the Department of Health’s Whole Systems Demonstrator (WSD) Programme and the Government’s announcement on December 5, 2011 of its 3 Million Lives (3ML) campaign. Appello press release for more information.
[If they mean that telehealth (as in ‘home-based patient monitoring’) will not work unless there is a fully integrated health system then suppliers may as well pack up and do something else. But if they mean that telehealth should be integrated into care pathways for patients with specific conditions, then what is required is (only) cooperation from the interested parties. Ed Steve]