What is telemedicine and how it works?

With the advancements in technology, the healthcare system is progressing like never before. Telemedicine is the result of the technological advances that will totally revolutionize the healthcare system after complete implementation in the near future.

Are telehealth and telemedicine different terms for the same thing? 

Do you ever wonder that what does telemedicine means? Do you think that telemedicine and telehealth refer to the same thing? Then, you are mistaking.

Telemedicine is a service that allows you to talk to healthcare professionals without going to the hospital. In contrast, telehealth is not a service. It is a collection of different modes useful for improving the patient’s health and educating them about their health.

Telehealth is a much broader discipline than telemedicine.

Types of telemedicine services

Telemedicine is a field and includes different types of telemedicine services. Below are the types of telemedicine services:

1. Remote patient monitoring
2. Real-time telehealth or synchronous telemedicine
3. Store and forward or asynchronous telemedicine

To know more about the telemedicine services, read this article.

How does telemedicine work?

After you have known what telemedicine is, you must be wondering how telemedicine works. Telemedicine uses two ways commonly for providing services to patients:

A patient portal- These are the online telemedicine platforms that help you connect with your doctor for consultancy, medication changes or prescription refills.

Virtual appointments- Virtual telemedicine occurs via the phone or video calls.

It depends upon the doctor that which mode of telemedicine he wants to use. In the case of chronic health conditions, hospital visits are crucial. You should rely upon telemedicine if you feel symptoms of chronic diseases.

What are the benefits of telemedicine in healthcare?

Telemedicine is not a new service. It is present since the 19th century and rose to popularity due to the several benefits to the healthcare system. Notable benefits of telemedicine in healthcare are:

1. Provides accurate and quick assessment
2. Alleviates the financial costs for treatment
3. Helps in better consultation sessions with doctors
4. Allows doctors to check the medication adherence
5. Helps in the better chronic diseases’ management and prevention
6. Saves time of follow up visits

COVID-19 and Telemedicine– Can telemedicine save you from COVID-19?

A pandemic, which has no effective treatment yet, can only be prevented. You can take the preventive measures and consult your doctor in case you feel any symptoms.

The costs for treating the COVID-19 patients are not bearable for everyone, particularly in a pandemic condition when the businesses are not working. In this scenario, visiting hospitals is not a wise option as the chances of the COVID-19 infection are the highest from the hospitals. So, telemedicine is gaining popularity as the best alternative for follow up visits.

Telemedicine and Health checkup kiosks

Regular discussions with doctors about your health can save you from many health problems, including COVID-19. If you’re suffering chronic health conditions, regular monitoring is vital for you. Even if you can’t visit hospitals regularly to avoid the COVID-19 infection, you can use health checkup kiosks for availing telemedicine services.

You can talk to a doctor via the computer interface and consult your health conditions in detail. Health checkup kiosks can be found at many places and allow you to self-examine for several conditions.

Telemedicine is the future of the healthcare industry

Owing to the convenience, cost-effectiveness, and up to the standard assessment, telemedicine is the future of the healthcare industry.