Teleservices interest grows in healthcare

With the advent of population health management and advances in mobile technology, remote patient monitoring and virtual visits are attracting a growing amount of attention in healthcare. A new report from consulting firm CSC provides a taxonomy of this burgeoning field, which it calls "teleservices."The four main branches of teleservices, the CSC report says, are: Telecare, Telehealth, Telecoaching, Telemedicine. According to an inMedica study cited by the authors, more than 300,000 patients are already being remotely monitored each year for congestive heart failure, COPD, diabetes, hypertension and mental illness. By 2017, it's projected, about 1.8 million patients worldwide will receive regular treatment through remote services.