TELEMEDICINE TODAY
Today the field of telemedicine is changing faster than ever. As technology progresses at exponential levels, so does the widespread accessibility and accessibility to basic telehealth tools. For example, not only do we now have the technology for live video telehealth, but much of the US population has experience with online video chat applications (such as Skype or FaceTime), and access to a computer or Mobile to use them.
Telehealth was originally created as a way to treat patients who were located in remote places, far away from facilities of health or in areas of with shortages of medical professionals. While telemedicine is still used today to address these issues, it is increasingly becoming a tool for convenient medical care. Today’s patient connected wants to spend less time in the waiting room at the doctor, and get immediate care for minor conditions, but urgency when they need it.
This expectation for more convenient care, combined with the unavailability of many overworked medical professionals (especially primary care providers) has led to the rise of telehealth companies. Many offer patients 24/7 access to medical treatment of a doctor on call contracted by that company. Others offer hospitals and larger health centres access to clinical staff in more and specialists, for the outsourcing of particular cases (common model among the teleradiology companies). Still, others provide a telehealth platform for doctors to use to offer virtual visits with their patients. Increasingly, telehealth is becoming a way to give medical practices an advantage in a competitive healthcare landscape in which it is difficult to remain independent and maintain a healthy bottom line.
Also, impact the increase of telemedicine today is the growing mobile health field. With the wide variety of new mobile and portable medical devices healthcare applications that are favourable to consumers, patients are beginning to use the technology to monitor and track their health. Simple household medical devices which can make vital and diagnose ear infections, the monitor glucose levels or blood pressure monitor to let the patients gather medical information required for the diagnosis of a doctor without going to the doctor's office. And again, as more patients get proactive about how to use technology to manage their health, but also will be more open to alternative methods to get care - through telehealth!
WHAT SERVICES CAN BE PROVIDED BY TELEMEDICINE
Telemedicine can be used for a large variety of health services. Here’s a short list of common conditions a primary care doctor may treat via telehealth:
Ø Allergies
Ø Arthritic Pain
Ø Asthma
Ø Bronchitis
Ø Diarrhea
Ø Colds and Flu
Ø Infections
Ø Insect Bites
Ø Conjunctivitis
Ø Pharyngitis
Ø Rashes
Ø Respiratory Infections
Ø Sinusitis
Ø Skin Inflammations
Ø Cellulitis
Ø Sore Throats
Ø Sprains & Strains
Ø Bladder Infections
Ø UTIs
Ø Sports Injuries
Ø Vomiting
Telehealth services can vary widely by speciality. A surgeon might use telehealth to do after the operation to check in with patients to make sure their wound is not infected. A gynaecologist can use a live telehealth solution to provide birth control advice. An endocrinologist can make live video chat with patients to discuss recent lab results and to answer questions.
FUTURE OF TELEMEDICINE
There is much to be optimistic about the future of telehealth. With the rapid advances in technology, it is likely that telehealth will only become easier and more widely accepted in the coming years. Already, intelligent glasses (like Google Glass) and smartwatches (like the Apple Watch) able to monitor the health data of patients and transmit real-time health workers. Programs like clmtrackr able to analyse the emotional state of a person based on their facial expressions and could be used to monitor the mental well-being. start-up of digital health as Augmedix, they are experimenting with automatically transcribe the documents during a patient visit. An advance in robotic surgery allows surgeons to operate on patients from afar.
ABOUT US
Mediklik is an online healthcare portal which provides the patients with a virtual platform to get the doctor consultation at home. Mediklik also provides other features like personal health records, symptom checker, disease database and drug interaction tool.
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