Last updated on Saturday, 4, April, 2020

Telemedicine is providing health care when patients and physicians (doctors) are not physically present there. An advancement in telemedicine has given people the choice that whether to visit doctors physically or approach doctors virtually. While using telemedicine, doctors and patients can share screens and share information from one computer to another. In addition, it is useful for people living in rural areas to access physicians virtually who previously had difficulty in approaching them physically. Using telemedicine, patients can see a doctor for diagnoses and treatment of diseases. Patients can do all this in the comfort of their homes without waiting hours for an appointment.

Types of Telemedicine

There are three common types of telemedicine health care and it is not only limited to these methods.

• Interactive Medicine: The interactive Medicine method allows patients and doctors to communicate in real-time just.
• Store and Forward: The store and forward method include a 3rd party in the chain. The patients send their information to the provider of service. The providers share their information with the practitioner who is at his place.
• Remote Patient Monitoring: This method allows caretakers to monitor the patient’s blood pressure and sugar who resides at home by using mobile devices to keep the record.

Difference between Telemedicine and Telehealth

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), telemedicine is “healing from distance.” It is a practice through which a physician checks the patients with the help of technology. The doctors use digital imaging, video consultation, and remote medical diagnosis. The individuals do not need to visit the physicians in person for a check-up. The use of telemedicine methods makes possible for specialists to check the patients in remote areas.

Unlikely, telehealth is the “use of information and telecommunication technology to provide health care service and public health administration remotely.” There is one distinct difference between which is that telehealth cover non-clinical processes as well as meetings, conferences, physician’s training, and continuing medical education (CME). It is not a specific service like telemedicine. It is a collection of services to improve patient care, health management, and administration.

Benefits of Telemedicine

• A patient does not require to physically visit a doctor.
• Saves time and travel costs.
• Less time away from work.
• Privacy.
• No danger to expose any contagious diseases.
• Less interference of the child and eldercare responsibilities.

The distance and time differences can limit access to care. Fortunately, Telemedicine overcomes the demographic differences, especially for specialized doctors. It can be used to serve the unserved communities and geographically rural areas. Telemedicine can improve the quality of health care in both physical and mental health problems.

Easily diagnoseable diseases

It is useful in psychotherapy and teledermatology. Other common health issues that can be addressed appropriately through telemedicine include:

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnose
• Cold and FLu
• cough
• Diarrhea
• Bites
• Burns
• Sore Throat
• Fever
• Rashes
• Skin concerns
• Dental problems

Using telehealth, patient and provider will be able to communicate virtually. This will help patients by reducing unnecessary office and hospital visits, lowering the risk of contacting COVID-19. Coronavirus gives telehealth a new horizon and many telehealth services are providing free telemedicine services.

“COVID-19 is different because we do not know all the factors surrounding transmission and we do not know its effects on patients,” Jason Hallock (Chief Medical Officer for SOC Telemed)points out. “There have been a significant number of deaths, the uncertainty surrounding that is scaring both patients and the general public. Our healthcare workers do not have all the answers yet. Telemedicine can be useful to evaluate and reassure patients in alternative settings. It can be used to help patients decide who needs to be seen in the hospital or an alternative setting like urgent care.”

Telemedicine is itself a tool to fight against coronavirus. It can be used to connect a doctor and patient via smartphones. It can be used to provide counseling in remote areas or areas with a higher number of patients.  Dr. Stephen Parodi (an infectious disease specialist) said that it is critical to use telehealth services for managing this pandemic. He is one of the leaders in the use of virtual visits for its patients. In a short part of preventing the coronavirus, it is important to keep the sick people out of contact with other patients and doctors. Telemedicine is very useful in managing this crisis. For more info, contact us.