What is Telemedicine? – All You Need To Know About It As A Physician
Telemedicine is the analysis and treatment of patients remotely with the aid of telecommunication. The conventional way of treating patients is now turned into telemedicine. In the Covid-19 era, when the entire whole world was trapped in their homes. This is when telemedicine evolved. The field of telemedicine has changed considerably since its inception.
It was around fifty years ago that a few hospitals began experimenting with telemedicine to reach patients in remote areas. But telemedicine has evolved into a complex integrated service used in hospitals, homes, private physician offices, and other healthcare facilities with the rapid changes in technology over the last few decades.
Today the field of telemedicine is currently changing faster than ever before. As technology progresses at immense speeds, so does the extensive affordability and accessibility to simple telemedicine resources. Not only do we now have live video telemedicine technology, for instance, but many of the U.S. population have experience using online video chat apps (such as Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp, IMO, etc.). And all of these apps are now readily available via a computer or mobile device.
When Telemedicine Started and For Whom?
Telemedicine was initially generated as a means of treating patients who were to be found in remote locations, far away from native health facilities or in areas where medical specialists had deficiencies. Although telemedicine is still used today to treat these complications, it’s increasingly becoming a method for effective medical care. Today’s linked patient wants to spend less time in the doctor’s waiting room and get instant treatment when it’s needed for minor but urgent conditions.
This anticipation for more convenient care, combined with the inaccessibility of many over trained medical professionals, has led to the rise of telemedicine companies. Many offer patients access to medical treatment 24/7 with the company on-call doctor. Others offer hospitals and larger health facilities access to additional clinical staff and consultants, for the outsourcing of special cases.
Still, others provide a telemedicine software platform for physicians to use to offer computer-generated visits with their patients. Increasingly, telemedicine is becoming a system for giving an advantage to medical practices in a reasonable healthcare environment where it’s difficult to remain liberated or maintain a healthy outcome.
Growth of Telehealth in Recent Years
The rising mobile health sector is also impacting the growth of telemedicine today. With the vast diversity in mobile health apps and new mobile medical devices that are consumer-friendly, patients are starting to use the gadgets to monitor their health.
Simple home-use medical devices that can take vitals and diagnose ear and throat infections, monitor blood sugar levels, or measure blood pressure allows a patient to gather the necessary medical data for a doctor’s diagnosis, without going into the doctor’s office. And again, as more patients become pre-emptive about using technology to manage their health, they also will be more open to unconventional ways of receiving care i.e. through telemedicine.
