Telehealth in nephrology care - promises and challenges

Telenephrology has been suggested as an approach to facilitate coordinated care between primary care providers and nephrologists for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Telehealth, the delivery of health-related services and information at a distance by telecommunication technologies, has been relatively little used in nephrology. Technologies used in telehealth continue to expand and range from telephone consultation to various web-based applications. Telehealth offers potential benefits and efficiencies, but evidence of its effectiveness and economic impact is less extensive than might be expected. A recent overview noted limitations in the telehealth literature, including many short-term feasibility studies with few participants, failure to adequately describe the intervention, sparse evidence for the cost-effectiveness of telehealth care, and absence of adequate information regarding patient safety. These are points that need to be considered in applying telehealth to nephrology. There may also be logistical concerns in deploying telenephrology applications.