Deploying Your Telehealth Platform

Abstract

Telemedicine is a burgeoning industry with potential to enhance patient care and physician outreach. A review of the current literature and legislative laws was conducted along with knowledge from the experience gathered at starting a telehealth platform at Texas Children's Hospital to find the necessary steps for starting a telehealth program. The authors propose their pearls to deploying a capable telehealth platform for the large hospital system. Doing so properly can increase capacity within hospital operations and improve health care economics. Select use-cases can be focused to leverage stakeholder need, while maximizing potential return. Successful deployment of a telehealth platform can be done on a small margin and accrued revenue can be reinvested as the basis for growth. Risk management considerations upfront will help navigate hurdles in the evolving legislative and regulatory landscape. This article presents the authors' stepwise approach for arranging and conducting a teleconsultation between patient and physician along with pearls for risk management considerations to be aware of throughout the process.

Patents for the Plastic Surgeon

“…In a recent analysis focused on quantifying innovation in plastic surgery, top-performing patent codes were identified within reconstructive prostheses, tissue engineering, implants, instruments, and noninvasive techniques 16 . Beyond the development of products enhancing patient surgical outcomes, there has also been a drive within the specialty to implement telemedicine to effectively triage and guide patients, all the while advancing patient care, reducing costs, and increasing productivity and patient satisfaction 17–19 . Over recent years, notable filed plastic surgery patents include a “device for minimally invasive plastic surgery lift procedures” (US application 20100286793), “absorbable implants for plastic surgery” (US application 20150112434), “a cross-linked sodium hyaluronate gel for tissue filler for plastic surgery and preparation method thereof” (US application 20150328123), “methods and apparatus for creating a reconstructive graft” (US application 20150209128), a “contact area diffusion factor quantifying fat contents of liquid” (US application 20180241971), and a “method and apparatus for providing a virtual plastic surgery SNS service” (US application 20150272691).…”