Telehealth and Cochlear Implantation

K.  Todd  Houston,  PhD,  CCC-­‐SLP,  LSLS  Cert.  AVT  School  of  Speech-­‐Language  Pathology  &  Audiology  

TelepracAce  &  eLearning  Laboratory  The  University  of  Akron  

 

CI  2013    American  Cochlear  Implant  Alliance  

Washington,  DC  October  26,  2013  

 

Presenters & Panelists

•  Gary Kahn, MD, M.Ed. The University of Colorado at Denver “Telemedicine in Otology and Cochlear Implantation”

•  Michelle Hughes, PhD, CCC-A Boys Town National Research Hospital “Validation of Audiological Measures Via Telepractice for Cochlear Implants”

•  Hannah Eskridge, MSP, CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill “Teleintervention: Praise & Pitfalls of Increased Access”

•  Panelists Janet Brown, MA, CCC-SLP, Director, Health Care Services, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association John McClanahan, President, Reimbursement Advisors, Ltd.

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Terminology

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Telehealth Telemedicine Telepractice

mHealth TeleTherapy

TeleAudiology TeleSpeech eLearning

Defining Telepractice

•  American Speech-Language-Hearing Association •  The application of telecommunications technology at a

distance by linking a clinician to client or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation.

•  Telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for the professions of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology.

•  The quality of services delivered via telepractice must be consistent with the quality of services delivered face-to-face.

History of Telehealth

•  For centuries, a strong desire & need to communicate health information over great distances.

•  1800s – Samuel Morse, Civil War, Dr. Alexander Graham Bell

•  Telephone, Photophone

•  1900s – Radio, Television, NASA, Dept. of Defense/Military, Internet

•  2000s – Widespread broadband Internet connections; software/Cloud solutions; mobile telecommunication through notebooks & tablet computers, & smartphones

History of Telehealth

Convergence of Technology & Health Care

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Technology:  Smartphones,  

Tablets,  Notebooks  

Broadband  Internet  

Lowering  Costs:  ACA,  Market  Pressures  

Social  Media/Networks:  ConnecAons  

Increased  Demand  for  Telehealth   Any  Service,  

Any  Place,  Any  Time  

Definitions

Telehealth  /  telepracAce  /mHealth  is  not  a  service,  but  a  delivery  mechanism  for  a  range  of  health  care  services.  It  is  a  tool  to  facilitate  service  delivery  (diagnosis,  treatment,  intervenAon,  therapy,  or  rehabilitaAon).  

Healthcare Access of the future

According to the American Medical Association,

70% of doctors visits and 40% of ER visits

could be avoided through telemedicine.

Increasingly, early interventionists, speech-language pathologists, teachers of the

deaf, and audiologists are adopting models of telehealth &

telepractice to serve more children and adults with

cochlear implants.

Alex and Nancy

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Alex and Nancy

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The Question for the Day

•  With the evolution and convergence of communication technology and health care, how will telehealth and mHealth applications impact the delivery of medical, speech-language, audiological and other services to children and adults with cochlear implants?

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