1. have you ever had a health problem while overseand and needed care? describe your experience. Was telehealyh available? if not, would it have been useful?

2. how do you feel about using telehealth versus in person car? explain?

3.To what degree can telehealth help employers control health care cost while aldo acheiving health care qulaity goals for their employees ?

Telehealth is providing health care from a distance and telemedicine refers more specifically to the technology used to help provide that care. Whether for domestic or expatriate employees, telehealth (typically for nonemergency care) is growing as a way to provide increased and faster access to general medical advice. It offers the opportunity to avoid waiting potentially weeks for an in-person appointment and/or having to take the time to travel to and from and potentially wait at the appointment. In the case of an expatriate employee, which by one estimate number over 60 million, it offers the additional advantage (see above) of eliminating any language batrier, as well as the need to deal with the idiosyncrasies of the foreign health care system. It may also save the employer a significant amount of money. In some cases, a 10 or 15 minute teleconsultation may help avoid a costly and drawn-out visit to an emergency room or doctor's office. There are, of course, challenges and risks in using telemedicine. For example, a virtual exam has limitations compared to an in-person exam. For example, it may be possible to diagnose the concern ralsed by the patient, but other concerns that might be noticed by a doctor in an in-person exam may go unnoticed. Another challenge in the case of expatriates is that some countries may ban doctors from providing health care unless they hold a license in that country. And/or they may not permit the doctor to write prescriptions in that country. In such cases, some sort of partnership with a local doctor would be necessary. Of course, telemedicine exploded during the pandemic. In a survey of large employers, 80 percent said that telehealth will play a key role in health care delivery going forward, up from 64 percent the previous year, and up from 52 percent two years ago. Aimost all of these employers offer telehealth for minor, acute services and 91 percent offer telemental health and emotional well-being care. Virtual musculoskeletal care will be offered by 29 percent in the coming year. As one example of supporting telehealth, game developer Zynga Inc. walved copays for virtual appointments and accelerated implementation of a global mental-health support program. From the perspective of a physician, telehealth helped in bringing health care to patients. For example, one family physician noticed a patient missed an appointment It was discovered the patient had no transportation. The telehealth option allowed the physician to "see" the patient and check on the patient's diabetes and mental health, which might not have happened otherwise. At UCLA Health in Los Angeles, there had been a push pre-pandemic to increase the use of telehealth, without much success (about 100 such appointments per day). During the first few months of the pandemic, virtual appointments jumped to 3,000 to 4,000 per day. More recently. telehealth appointments seem to have stabilized at around 2,700 per day. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Have you ever had a health problem while overseas and needed care? Describe your experience. Was telehealth available? If not, would it have been heipfut? 2. How do you feel about using telehealth versus in-person care? Explain. 3. To what degree can telehealth heip employers control health care costs while also achieving health care quality goals for their employees