Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications technology such as phones and computers to provide clinical services to patients over long-distance communication. This is achieved through phone calls, emails, mobile apps, and video chat, healthcare professionals can diagnose and treat patients without the need for long travels or in-person hospital visits. It also allows healthcare professionals to consult with other physicians or specialists in the diagnosis or treatment of a patient without having to leave their facilities.
It has been found to provide conventional, in-person healthcare encounters for both patients and providers, thereby decreasing travel cost and time, time spent in waiting rooms, risk of transmission of communicable diseases and overall encounter time consumption. This facilitates seamless transitions of care between healthcare teams, connects isolated people with healthcare providers, and help address regional healthcare infrastructure.
The impact of telehealth in healthcare include:
- Convenient and Easy-to-Access Care
The goal of telemedicine is to deliver healthcare services to patients in remote or rural areas, offering a solution for problems such as the shortage of medical professionals and healthcare facilities. Smaller hospitals in rural places are also able to provide intensive care services with the help of specialists in other facilities via remote patient monitoring systems. This also expands to patients in urban areas who are leading busy schedules and lifestyles.
- Reduced Healthcare Costs
It helps patients, medical providers, insurers and employers reduce healthcare costs and save money. Unnecessary and non-urgent ER visits or physical check-ups for diagnosis of simple health issues like sore throats, skin rashes, colds or flu may be eliminated through this use, which in turn, help patients save on transportation expenses and higher costs of in-person visits.
- Better Access to Specialists
Patients in rural or remote areas endure longer travels just to access specialists and life-saving treatments for specific diseases. Telemedicine improves patient access to specialists, it also widens the patient population for a specialist, helping them overcome geographic limits and expanding their reach.
- Improved Health Outcomes and Better Care Quality
Telemedicine offers care that is patient-centred in that it provides patients with quality care when they need it and where they need it. Medical issues can be quickly addressed through real-time urgent consultations within minutes. A timely diagnosis and the early treatment of a patient will often result in improved outcomes and lower expenses.
- Increased Patient Engagement
Patients are becoming more tech-savvy and even more aware of their health due to the rise of telemedicine and a wide variety of healthcare apps available today. This increases patient engagement by helping them maintain check-up appointments and care schedules. Virtual consultations also make it easier for patients to reach out to their physicians, report early warning signs or any health concerns, and follow through on their appointments.
Cons of Telemedicine
While telemedicine offers many benefits to the healthcare field, it also have some demerits.
- It cannot deliver the same level of care as many in-person healthcare encounters and does not facilitate thorough physical examinations which may lead to missed diagnoses. Remote visits will also likely not provide the same social and emotional connections between patients and providers that in-person visits offer.
- The adoption depends on physician’s acceptance of new systems and remote modes of healthcare delivery. Providers and ancillary staff will have to receive training prior to engaging in telemedicine.
- Require full-time staff to manage and troubleshoot equipment and systems. These processes may be expensive and time-consuming.
- Relies on patients having smartphones, laptops and network access which patients might not be able to operate. As with other information technology sector, telemedicine also faces intermittent delays due to technological difficulties such as poor network connections, equipment failures.
Despite its limitations, telemedicine has solved most healthcare issues and improve patient access to quality care.