Agostina Giorgio of the Polytechnic University of Bari in Italy has published a very interesting paper about telehealth. The paper is “Social networks, apps and smartphones for telemedicine”. Giorgio sees telehealth as a nearly all inclusive solution for a large number of people. He has created an app called Care-App which allows private and secure communication between doctor and patient using Facebook. Most people think of Facebook as communicating with a lot of friends and family, if not everyone, but it can be limited to a secure and personal channel.

Care-App includes a medication diary, a 911-like feature, and allows a patient to search for providers and make appointments. The video feature of telehealth can enable a physician to see symptoms or problems. Using mHealth devices, a telehealth visit can become very real. For example, a “tele-stethoscope” device connected to the smart phone headphone jack allows the physician to hear your heartbeat. Giorgio and his colleagues in the Cardiology department have already tested and validated a tele-stethoscope with Care-App. Other remote devices can measure blood-oxygen saturation, pulse, temperature, and even a 30-second electrocardiogram. Giorgio’s Care-app manages all the steps taken during a collaborative session between doctor and patient.

Agostina Giorgio is one of many innovators in Telehealth. Read the complete article at ‘Facebooking’ your doctor’s appointment. Read more about telehealth and mHealth devices in Health Attitude.