Telehealth and the Treatment of Voice Disorders: A Discussion Regarding Evidence

Telehealth is becoming a major component of healthcare delivery and consumption. Although it has a substantial history internationally and within certain U.S. health sectors (e.g., military, transport medicine, home health care), widespread application to broader populations of U.S. health care consumers has taken place within only the last decade. Telehealth permits increased access to care, particularly for rural and underserved populations (Mashima & Doarn, 2008). Additional benefits include improved convenience, reduced healthcare costs, and greater opportunity for supported self-management in the patient’s own environment. Moreover, given the use of technology to manage all other aspects of personal life, the health care consumer should expect that medicine and allied health will make progress toward adapting their traditional models of care to more effective and efficient methods.