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Telemedicine and its Role in Revolutionizing Healthcare

Technology has become a centralized component of operation across all industries, including the various verticals of the health system. It’s revolutionized the way providers manage patient care. Telemedicine is one of those game-changing technologies, and the plethora of benefits from using it enables a more efficient, effective, and satisfactory relationship between providers and healthcare consumers. How? Why?

Telemedicine Has Changed The Delivery Landscape

To realize the full scope of this tool’s benefits, it’s important to understand that this system has evolved beyond just telephone consults.  Clinical telemedicine applications can be divided into four categories – interactive mode (real-time), store-&-forward, remote monitoring, and telephone communication.

In a nutshell, telemedicine solutions offer a comprehensive connection portal delivering convenience, cost-efficiency, and accessibility to health-related information, actions, and communication.

Through smartphones, tablets, and computers, a vast array of patients at multiple locations can receive both direct and indirect services and information.  Application covers a diverse scope, including online databases, patient outcomes, critical pathways, electronic prescriptions, research data and drug information availability, computer-assisted diagnosis, and so forth.

Such applications serve to both enhance and simplify delivery in ways that are positive and meaningful to both providers and patients alike.  While providers can accommodate higher volumes of patients, the patients have increased access to a more connected and encompassing level of care.  The end result is the increased ability and probability in reaching health goals and demands.

For a large medical office, telemedicine is an assistive tool to gain comprehensiveness and streamline the delivery of patient care.  However, it’s the small independent doctor offices with less than 10 providers where telemedicine solutions are becoming most beneficial in keeping up with the expectations and demands of technology forward healthcare consumers while delivering quality care across the board.

Real-time telemedicine between a provider and patient can involve a monitoring device and diagnostics.  A cardiac, postoperative, diabetic or pregnant patient records upon symptoms or continuously. The biometric data is then transmitted via the telemedicine system to the physician, where he/she would be immediately aware of any abnormalities.  Immediacy and ease of implementing treatment or further testing is an invaluable asset.

Remote monitoring, such as through analytical software and smart cameras, can alert providers and caregivers when an elderly or handicapped patient has a change or at-risk event.  Wound care patients can be managed through telemedicine via photographs and wound descriptions.

Benefits Of TeleMedicine Solutions

By combining medical history information, pattern recognition knowledge, tele-enabled visual exam and interviews, providers no longer need to physically examine a patient to provide treatment services.

Take a look below as to how telemedicine is having a positive impact on today’s healthcare challenges:1) Accessibility

• Patients can be seen from any location during pre-set times determined by the practice.

• Gives patients access to healthcare information and providers without being concerned about travel and monetary restrictions.

• Providers can enhance and increase their patient care reach of clinical services to a broader geographical area.

2) Outcomes

• Early diagnosing and treatment through telemedicine can improve outcomes and help avoid more invasive and costly treatments in the future.

• Reduction in mortality rates, complications, hospitalization, and length of hospital stays are a key component of monitoring through telemedicine services.

• With infectious diseases, telemedicine services eliminates the risk of nosocomial transmission to other patients, healthcare workers, and patients with compromised immune systems.  It also removes the risk of sitting in a waiting room next to other patients with various unknown ailments.

3) Costs• Home monitoring activities can help avoid disease progression and the need for more costly care, such as ER visits.

4) Shortages And Distribution

• Physicians, specialists, and nurses alike may have the ability to serve more patients via telemedicine.

• While telemedicine isn’t designed to replace the need for face-to-face appointments, it helps providers distribute their time across patient loads by taking advantage of a more diverse and tailored delivery system.

5) Education

• Remote providers have access to supportive educational materials to assist in diagnosis and treatment implementation and management.

• Remote providers can easily confer with other providers and specialists regarding a patient’s case..

6) Patient Support

• Patients are able to take an active role in their own health, which assists medical professionals in expedient care and achieving positive outcomes from prescribed treatments.

• Enables patients with limited physical ability to access quality services and information.

• Chronic disease home monitoring can help stabilize patients and reduce hospital visits by up to 50 percent.

• Offers increased ability to track, regulate, and monitor medicine intake, therapy, and treatment for effectiveness.

In closing, telemedicine solutions have and continue to improve the way a medical practice and its providers can deliver services to their patients.  From cost to care delivery efficiency and improved outcomes as well as far-reaching accessibility, telemedicine isn’t just a beneficial asset.  It’s quickly becoming the virtual standard by which the healthcare industry is expected to operate.

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