A tool that makes healthcare more accessible, and cost-effective, and that increases patient engagement – is telemedicine. Since making its debut in the late 1950s, advances in telemedicine have contributed to seniors having the choice to age in place. In addition, the patients who reside in rural areas that previously had difficulties accessing a physician can now reach them virtually.
Physicians and patients can share information in real-time from one computer screen to another. And they can even see and capture readings from medical devices at a faraway location. Using telemedicine software, patients can see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment without having to wait for an appointment. Patients can consult a physician in the comfort of their home.
The concept of telemedicine and telehealth could be still new to providers and physicians given the especially slow adoption of technology in healthcare.
However, the continued advances in technology and healthcare innovation have greatly expanded its usability. Moreover, the demand from a new generation of tech-savvy population has pushed for its rapid adoption due to its convenience, cost-saving, and intelligent features it brings.
It’s now a matter of time for the healthcare system, medical groups, providers and even solo practitioners integrate telemedicine as part of their medical services offering.
Telemedicine is simply defined as, There are 3 common types of telemedicine, which include but are not limited to:
It can be simple or complex for a provider to implement telemedicine into their practice. For solo practitioners and clinics, most just require a basic to start delivering telemedicine consultation.
For providers looking to have more, they need to consider their existing workflow and incorporate the telemedicine software solution into their practice. Usually, this software needs to have a waiting room, EHR, and payment function.
Large medical group or hospitals usually requires custom telehealth solution to fit into their existing workflow to lessen the disruption of adopting telemedicine as it is harder to train a large number of physicians to change their behavior.
Besides the software part, provider should do due diligence on the telehealth regulations, and reimbursement policy for their country or state, which will be discussed later in this article.
Organizations will have to implement telemedicine. Many organizations have decided to partner with a telemedicine company to make the transition and implementation easier.
Telemedicine is conducted in several ways. The most basic is just a simple video call (like you normally do with family and friends), however, most countries require secured HIPAA-compliant video conference tool, so telemedicine company such as VSee also provides this kind of secure and simple-to-use solution for providers.
There are also some telemedicine is conducted with portable telemedicine kits that include a computer and mobile medical devices, such as ECG or vital signs monitors. High-resolution digital cameras are also available for physicians to send detailed medical images to specialists.
Lastly, there is robust telemedicine software that allows everything from data storage to live video conferencing. Overall, there are many innovative telemedicine equipment to meet the various needs of patients today.
