Importance of Telehealth

Healthcare provision keeps improving, and as technology progresses, some of its elements are shifted into healthcare. For a long time, people were physically visiting healthcare providers; for some people, it would take a lot of time and energy. Healthcare providers began to use electronics and telecommunication devices to provide services to patients and other healthcare providers.

Telehealth enables doctors and patients to communicate through electronic devices such as smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Even those who are not computer literate have benefited from telehealth. Stakeholders in healthcare see the need for telehealth and want to keep improving it. 

Here are some of the reasons telemedicine is important;

Services in Remote Areas

Some people live in remote areas where reaching a healthcare facility could take hours. Telehealth helps healthcare providers reach people living in remote areas without the need to travel for long hours. Patients can reach doctors using their mobile phones, and doctors can use telecommunication devices to diagnose and manage ailments of patients living in remote areas.

Improve Patient's Health

Telehealth helps manage long-term health conditions by allowing doctors to manage these conditions through technology. Sometimes the long and frequent trips to the doctor’s office can cause a patient to get tired and start skipping some doctor’s appointments. Telehealth allows doctors to provide services to patients with long-term health conditions in the comfort of their houses.

Reduce Healthcare Expenditure

Healthcare is very expensive nowadays, and few people can afford to pay for all healthcare need. For patients paying for healthcare services out of pocket, regular visits to the doctor can be very expensive. Telehealth allows patients to speak to their doctors virtually, reducing the costs of getting healthcare services.

Controlling Infectious Disease

One lesson learned from the Covid-19 pandemic is how quickly a disease can spread from one corner of the world to the other within a short time. Telehealth can help control the spread of infectious diseases by ensuring patients are pre-screened virtually to check if they have an infectious disease. Telehealth also prevents people from visiting healthcare facilities and interacting with patients that might have infectious diseases.

Real-time Communication

Telehealth has provided real-time communication between patients, doctors, and other healthcare providers. When a patient gets ill or injured, they can speak to the doctor immediately rather than drive to the hospital. For example, when you fall down the stairs and fracture your arm, video calling your doctor immediately could help your doctor see where you got injured and offer medical guidance before you go to an emergency room.

Comfort and Convenience

Telehealth provides patients with convenience because they no longer have to drive to the hospital or sit in a waiting room waiting to speak to their doctor. You can simply contact your doctor using your mobile device from the comfort of your bed or chair. Virtual visits can also make you comfortable and free to speak to your doctor without worrying about other people knowing your health condition.

Perfect Assessment

When you speak to your doctor through video call, they can better assess your condition by seeing the environment you live in. If you suffer from a certain medical condition, your environment can help reduce or exacerbate it. For example, if you are old and have sever back pains, when the doctor sees your house has too many stairs, they will advise you to move to a house with fewer stairs.

Bottomline

Regular visits to the doctor can be tiresome and expensive, and many patients do not have access to a nearby healthcare facility. Telehealth helps to bring patients and doctors closer through technology. Telehealth is still in its growing stages, but in a few years, it will be perfect and more people will be using it.

Guest Author - Dr. Lorie Poston is a nurse practitioner with over a decade of experience in medicine. She is a dual board certified as a Family and an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care nurse practitioner and now operates Telehealth Care Florida.