Telehealth describes contemporary digital technologies and telecommunications used to maximize convenience for both medical practitioners and their patients. It is also achieved by distributing health-related services via electronic communication, surpassing the limitation of long-distance clinical practices.
The remote medical services help to relieve restraining factors in areas such as transportation, mobility, rural settlements, fundings, restricted areas, and the likes which typically affect absolute health administration in specific regions. Some of the main reasons why telehealth is well-favored today include:
Accessibility: Telehealth technology is used to reach out to patients who may be particularly far off from the medical facilities. This involves people that reside in rural areas or places without normal care delivery systems. In a situation where there is a shortage of Physicians to physically attend to many patients, Telehealth enables one to administer certain treatments to more people at a time. It is currently being made more accessible for patients with affected visions (pink eye – blurriness) that coronavirus incites. The enhanced accessibility that it brings results in faster prioritization of care delivery so that the clinical workflow gets enhanced as well. Telehealth also provides ease-of-access for carrying out supervisions, presentations, meetings, or conferences.
Cost Efficiency: The application of Telehealth tends to reduce common costs for both health experts and their patients while requiring low-cost implementations. Telehealth visits are relatively cheaper as it dismisses the expenses of traveling down, parking, childcare and taking office leaves. Consequently, hospitals are now saving their patients the cost of physically visiting doctors by implementing telemedicine programs. The idea also involved helping out individuals who have no choice but to skip treatments due to the financial burdens of frequent medical checkups on-site.
Minimized Infection Spreading: Even though the hospital is supposed to be a safe space for people to get treated, there isn’t a 100% guarantee that one may not fall victim to a contagious disease. Telehealth provides a virtual system for patients to get administered by health experts thereby reducing exposure to infections and illness. When the doctor sees a patient remotely, he/she does not have to be mindful of being exposed to pathogens that the patient may possess. Also, cases wherein a patient gets a contagious infection from a fellow patient becomes curbed. Telehealth visits are highly favored now, especially during this period of coronavirus threats. As Covid-19 pandemic poses an unpredictable existence period, Telehealth now ensures physical distance that prevents the spread of the disease among clinicians and patients.
Improved Revenue Stream: This encompasses the overhead expenses and income supplement that Telehealth technology brings about. Digital health-based services tend to incur lower overhead costs while increasing revenue for clinicians. Since the telecommunication technology applications are low-cost to implement, clinicians can maximize their revenue by attending to more patients online. Each time a patient is unable to visit the hospital, for instance, the revenue stream decreases. But when patients can be adequately attended to via virtual systems, the hospital records more availability of people showing up for treatment. This, therefore, increases revenue over time.
Flexible Medical Monitoring: Patients’ conditions can be monitored instantaneously and remotely with Telehealth applications. The system provides an enhanced and flexible service delivery in the treatments of normal and critical conditions. This naturally implies healthcare quality that is improved with the convenience of rendering and receiving treatment. Remote specialists can determine their patients’ situations regarding if one has to be moved to another facility or not. It also helps specialists determine if the current conditions of their patients need physical attention as not all practices can be achieved virtually. Telehealth appointments are deemed most suitable for the current pandemic as patients get an informed opinion regarding certain developed symptoms: healthcare experts refer to diagnostic tests without endangering one another when being physically present. In essence, specialists can always stay in touch with their support network.
