The level of patient care has drastically evolved throughout the last decade. The rise of the internet age brought with it profound changes for the practice of telemedicine. The proliferation of smart devices, capable of high-quality video transmission, opened up the possibility of delivering remote healthcare to patients in their homes, workplaces or assisted living facilities as an alternative to in-person visits for both primary and specialty care. As a result, many of the manual tasks performed by doctors and nurses now automate through telemedicine technology.
What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine refers to electronic communication devices and software that allow nurses and physicians to communicate and collaborate both inside and outside of the medical facility. It provides clinical patient services without requiring an in-person visit. Telemedicine technology is mainly used for follow-up visits, medication monitoring, specialist consultations and other clinical services that can be provided remotely through secure audio and video collaboration platforms.
The Benefits of Telemedicine
Telemedicine employs collaborative technologies to facilitate a virtual doctor-patient encounter. These solutions combine voice, video, medical data, and collaboration tools, to facilitate a patient to see a doctor, without having to travel long distances. They enable patients, providers, and allied health workers to come together on a common platform and collaborate in real time.
- Allows the diagnosis and treatment of patients quickly without delay, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare and clinical outcomes.
- Designed to work on a lower bandwidth, enabling healthcare providers to serve patients in remote locations, where last mile connectivity is a lingering problem.
- Patients present themselves at any location using a medical kiosk in a remote village, retail center, corporate office, or their own home.
- Flexible and do not need expensive infrastructure or dedicated space. They set up pretty much anywhere, as long as there is the minimum bandwidth.
- Allows doctors to capture, store, and retrieve patient details such as demographics, patient history, allergies, clinical findings, vitals and medications.
Conclusion
Telemedicine technologies have automated and streamlined many arduous processes for healthcare providers. As a result, patient care and patient coverage has drastically increased. The technology continues to evolve at an astonishing rate with the increasing adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT). Providing quality patient care to people, no matter where they live, will soon become a welcomed reality.
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