In the wake of covid-19, how can telemedicine help your practice?

COVID -19 pandemic has put a huge amount of pressure on the healthcare system. Telemedicine has emerged as an effective way in pandemic times. It has helped many health care providers, to check, detect and provide the right treatment to the patients, living at a distance by using telecommunication technology in the comfort of their homes. It is even helping uncountable individuals who have come in contact with the virus and need treatment and even preventing the spread of the virus by avoiding the touch of a doctor to the patient required for sake of treatment. Although telemedicine has already been used by the healthcare system for a long time, still in the corona-virus pandemic, it has provided an unprecedented opportunity to healthcare by increasing the coverage. Before getting deep in detail about the benefits of telemedicine during COVID-19 pandemic times, it is important to know something about telemedicine.

What is meant by Telemedicine?

Telemedicine is defined as providing medical information about non-emergency medical issues from the doctor to the patient by phone or online like video calls. It is done to improve the patient’s health. Many times, patients want to consult with a doctor, but cannot do so because they are sometimes in a location that is hard to reach or there could be other issues like no availability of time, busy schedule, and many more. Depending upon the concern, telemedicine provides a solution for so many non-emergency medical concerns. With telemedicine service, a person has access to remote healthcare services from their doctor, without going directly to the doctor’s clinic.

Why to use telemedicine?

Many doctors and patients use telemedicine apps to:

• To renew prescriptions
• To check whether or not the patient wants physical therapies or not
• To provide expert advice on types of therapies like speech and physical therapies
• Role of telemedicine in COVID-19 pandemic times
• To provide immediate medical care, advising on certain mental health issues, and checking no serious infections

The global COVID-19 pandemic has increased the role of telemedicine services in the whole world. Many healthcare providers appreciated this change as it has eased down access to healthcare for almost any person. In these pandemic times, when it has become difficult to reach the doctor, telemedicine helps to fix appointment consultations without going anywhere, through mobile apps, and video calls. Telemedicine has become a new norm now when everyone is just adopting the new changes that happened during pandemic times.

In these pandemic days, when the lockdown was introduced to avoid long and crowded gatherings, avoiding contact with any other individual, making the best possible distance with another person, wearing masks, and many more, Telemedicine has helped the patients and other healthcare providers in many ways. It has helped many healthcare clinics to avoid long rows in waiting rooms, avoids the risk of spread of infection due to COVID 19 exposure, and most importantly, individuals have seen telemedicine as a way to contact their healthcare providers while being safe at home.

From making an appeal for treatment to attending the doctor’s appointment from the safety and comfort of home, telemedicine has made healthcare easily accessible to everyone than traditional healthcare systems. As the whole world is redefined and reshaped by COVID-19, telemedicine is playing an important role and widely accepted by the people, in addressing various healthcare problems to the doctors.

Telemedicine: a new approach for women’s healthcare especially during COVID -19 times:

Women face countless issues related to their reproductive organs and feel hesitant to discuss with their family members and try to avoid going and take medical help directly from the doctor. In pandemic days, when the government has put a lockdown for preventing the spread of coronavirus, it has become next to impossible for many women to go outside of their home for the sake of medical help for their private medical issues. Additionally, many women, even don’t have accessible primary care providers, and even don’t receive the information that is important for them in all aspects of their overall health. However, with telemedicine, it has become an easy option for women to directly consult with a doctor of their preference, without going anywhere. Even if a woman doesn’t want to discuss her medical issues with anyone, still she can directly consult with a top-rated doctor and can get the solution.

Telemedicine has been used for decades but it has got more attention during COVID-19 times. It is an addition to medical care where the patient can get medical help at the place they want without being worried about an appointment at clinics.