Taiwan should learn from other countries to advance telehealth services in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remark at a Taipei conference titled the “Current Challenges and Opportunities in Telehealth,” held by the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) Forum, Taipei Medical University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.
In his opening speech, Chiu discussed the concept of “social prescribing,” encouraging healthcare providers view patients through a professional medical lens and refer them to a range of person-centered non-clinical care services to support their health and well-being.
Photo: CNA
Since becoming the director of a public health center in 1988, Chiu said he began overseeing the operations of telehealth and hospice care.
His experience working with people in hospice care showed him the importance of person-centered care and that patients are connected to the community, he said.
Person-centered care services and telemedicine have played important roles during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, and in the post-pandemic era, many countries are pushing to advance telehealth services, Chiu said.
While different countries have different opinions on quality, regulations, ethics and privacy regarding telehealth services, it has become a common challenge for many healthcare systems around the world, he said.
Taiwan should continue to learn from and communicate with other countries to advances its telehealth services, he said.
In the post-COVID-19 era, telemedicine still faces challenges, including healthcare quality monitoring, patient privacy safety, regulations and regulatory reviews, but after some experience, the scope of telemedicine was expanded in July, NHRI Forum vice chairman Wayne Sheu (許惠恒) said.
Taipei Medical University Board of Trustees chairman Chen Ray-jade (陳瑞杰) said telemedicine did not disappear after COVID-19 ended, but transformed into telehealth, and is shifting its focus from acute care to chronic care services.
The focus of telehealth is on individuals or families, so if there is a comprehensive telehealth system, people can still receive healthcare at home when a disaster or pandemic occurs, which is an embodiment of a “resilient health system,” Chen said.
However, telemedicine in the post-COVID-19 era faces four main challenges: regulations, payment systems, technology and personal information security, he said.
The conference was held for people from the private and government sectors, academics and healthcare providers to discuss solutions, he said.
Telehealth can also be extended beyond medical treatment, to health education, holistic healthcare and weight management, or even allow people to participate in clinical trials at home, he added.
Additional reporting by CNA
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS