ABSTRACT
Telehealth is a prevalent method of delivering health care that has shown promise in facilitating access to care. Telehealth is especially important for seniors who desire to age in place while still having convenient access to healthcare resources. This chapter provides a review of telehealth systems and the incorporation of artificial intelligence into such systems. Various technologies are discussed, including (1) devices for remotely monitoring a patient’s physiological parameters (such as blood pressure, heart rate, and body weight), biological parameters (such as blood sugar level), and activities of daily life (such as steps taken and sleep patterns); (2) decision support systems for analyzing data and making recommendations; and (3) health coaching systems for driving health-related behavior changes. The analysis includes an overview of conditions or diseases that were studied as well as the evidence for the effectiveness of such tools. The chapter also presents an integrated telehealth systems framework, which shows the interactions between different human, technological, and process-related components from a systems perspective. Several future work areas are proposed related to advanced telehealth systems that are capable of incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning to recognize trends, diagnose conditions, recommend interventions, and promote behavioral change.
