Identifying Health IT Infrastructure Requirements for Telehealth

As healthcare organizations continue to utilize telehealth programs, it’s more important than ever to make sure that all health IT infrastructure requirements for telehealth are met. Organizations that do not properly support their telehealth network will experience dropped connections, security risks, and dissatisfied clinicians and patients. Developing a plan that takes into account current telehealth needs as well as future demands is the first thing organizations need to do when considering telehealth. The network needs to be scalable and updates need to be made on a realistic timeline that takes budget and available resources into consideration. Telehealth is a prominent tool for rural hospitals that treat patients who cannot make frequent trips to their providers. These areas often have weaker connectivity than urban areas, which makes telehealth infrastructure critical to supporting these areas. According to the ONC, telehealth programs require: Access to broadband internet: sufficient bandwidth is needed to transmit audio and video data. Organizations in rural areas may have difficulty connecting to or obtaining affordable and reliable broadband service.