As health care leaps forward, the newer aspects of medical possibilities are taking shape. One such example is the concept of telehealth and telemedicine. From providing care remotely to cost-saving, the benefits of telemedicine and telemedicine software are myriad. Through telemedicine, clinics can enable video or phone appointments between doctors and patients.

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The inception of the COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered the adoption of telemedicine worldwide. Both doctors and patients can forge strong relationships by leveraging telemedicine’s benefits. It provides convenience, cost savings and smart features that help medical practitioners improve their care delivery.

Despite its offerings, the adoption of telemedicine was slow. However, the new tech-savvy generations have opened the doors to the proliferation of telemedicine and telehealth.

Do you have second thoughts about adopting telemedicine? Fret not; we’ve got you covered with everything there is to know about the differences between telemedicine and telehealth and the advantages and disadvantages telemedicine offers. Stay tuned.

What This Article Covers:

• What Is Telemedicine?
• Differences Between Telemedicine and Telehealth
• Benefits
• Disadvantages
• Future Trends
• Conclusion

What Is Telemedicine?

Telemedicine is a branch of health care that allows medical practitioners to deliver health care remotely. It offers easy access to health care for patients in rural areas without insurance, lowers costs for clinics and more.

There are three distinct types of telemedicine — interactive medicine, store and forward, and remote patient monitoring. In comparison, interactive medicine allows patients and physicians to connect through video calls in real time, whereas remote monitoring assists clinicians in communicating with patients and recording health vitals. Store and forward telemedicine alleviates the need for physicians to meet patients in person. Reports and medical images are sent directly to the practitioner.

The advent of telemedicine began with the birth of telecommunication technology. Since then, the advancement in technology has seen an increase in affordability and availability of telemedicine tools. This is paving the way for clinics to leverage telemedicine’s benefits to treat patients who live far away and incorporate it as the primary mode of care delivery.

As computers and the internet grow in popularity, patients require quick solutions to their health issues without wasting time.

A recent Statista report shows that “over 61% of Americans surveyed reported using a telehealth/telemedicine appointment.”

Telemedicine vs. Telehealth

Although telemedicine and telehealth sound synonymous, they are not the same. Since the last decade, the quick pace of technological innovations in health care has given birth to new phrases. That said, policymakers and auxiliary medical groups often use these new terms without knowing the proper meaning. This has resulted in an overlap of these terms.

Telehealth and telemedicine have coexisted for a considerable amount of time; thus, people often use them together. While both have similar features, there is a wide range of differences between the two.

The term telemedicine loosely translates to healing through distance. On the other hand, telehealth refers to “the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health, and health administration.”

Furthermore, telemedicine clinics only offer clinical services, whereas telehealth encompasses clinical and non-clinical services such as provider training, medical education and more.

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Primary Benefits

Telemedicine is a newer branch of health care, but it is here to stay. As the year’s progress, telemedicine is encompassing newer avenues of medical care, including chronic treatment delivery. In this era, clinics, hospitals, patients and independent practitioners are rapidly embracing the new practice to improve their outcomes.

The advantages and benefits of telemedicine are two-pronged: for patients and providers. Let’s have a look at telemedicine’s advantages.

Patient Benefits

Telemedicine is a successful way of delivering high-quality care to patients remotely. Patients can get in touch with specialists to seek a quick resolution for their health issues without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Check out some of the benefits your patients can reap when you deploy a telemedicine system at your clinic.

Lower Costs

Patients can reach doctors and clinic professionals through video chat on mobile phones; there is no need to travel to the clinic. This saves both time and money while increasing their overall experience.

Enhance Preventive Care

Patients can enable preventive care easily through telemedicine. They can access emergency care that drastically improves their health outcomes. For patients with limited access to care, telemedicine can bridge the gap between the two.

Improve Access to Care

For underserved patients residing in rural areas, telemedicine is a boon that provides them unlimited access to care. In addition, people with disabilities can also get access to care from their homes.

Reduce the Spread of Infections

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinics and hospitals have had to shut their doors to patients. Patients with infections often sit close to each other at doctors’ clinics. Through telemedicine, patients can avoid spreading infections and keep themselves safe from exposure.

Provide Convenience

The most crucial benefit of telemedicine is its convenience to patients and clinics alike. Patients can schedule consultations between work and household chores. This can improve patient satisfaction manifold and improve retention for clinics.

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Clinic Benefits

Telemedicine software such as electronic medical records, AI diagnosis and medical streaming devices assists providers in delivering better health care services. They allow clinicians to record patients’ vital readings and monitor their health thoroughly.

Below are some of the benefits your clinic can reap by implementing a telemedicine solution.

Reduce Overhead Expense

Adopting telemedicine can bring a great deal of relief to a clinic. Not only does it save upfront costs, such as paying for additional front desk representatives, but it also enables clinics to rent a smaller office space with lower rent.

Boost Revenue

Increase patient flow and reduce no-shows by implementing telemedicine methods. When patients can attend consultations from the comfort of their home and work, it is bound to increase retention rates and revenue. Further, optimized appointment schedulers and virtual check-in methods increase patient flow.

Increase Patient Satisfaction

Making health care more accessible and efficient, clinics are transforming the clinical experience of patients. Self-help options empower patients to take charge of their treatment plans. This grows patient satisfaction manifold.

Disadvantages

Like every health care branch, telemedicine also has some downsides. Although the disadvantages of telemedicine far outweigh the advantages, it’s essential to be aware of the shortcomings.

As the doctrine continues to advance with technological innovations, some of these limitations may get omitted with time. However, let’s look at the list.

Disadvantages for Patients

Limited Insurance Options

As mentioned above, telemedicine is relatively new in the health care segment. Therefore, not all insurance providers cover telemedicine. However, with time, laws are constantly being updated and rewritten.

At-risk Data Security

It is essential for medical clinics to protect patients’ data through several encryptions and security protocols. Hackers and phishing agents are always on the hunt to hack servers and steal sensible patient data available on public servers.

Delayed Care

Telemedicine can also pose unwanted delays in paths of care. In an emergency, access to telemedicine can be troublesome with low internet bandwidth, among other limitations.

Disadvantages for Care Providers

Fewer Face-to-Face Appointments

For elderly patients, adapting to telemedicine can be troublesome. Not only are most not tech-savvy, but online appointments can cause issues. Further, in spite of using modern medical software, outages can occur, which can cause patient dissatisfaction. It also highlights the importance of human face-to-face conversations and their ability to improve patient outcomes.

Expensive Technologies

Telemedicine solutions are expensive. Without a doubt implementing a solution costs a lot as it requires hardware, software and training. Health care professionals must learn all the system’s ins and outs to leverage it properly. However, over time, clinics and health care institutions can get a good ROI on the investment.

Minimal Patient Examination

During online consultations through video chats, doctors and physicians rely entirely on patients’ self-reports and available lab tests. Often, doctors have to extend consultation duration by asking for additional information to obtain sufficient information about their health issues.

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Future Trends

The future of telemedicine looks exciting and full of possibilities. With the advent of modern communications equipment, telecommunication will proliferate along with telemedicine benefits.

In 2019, the value of telemedicine markets was $50 billion. A report published by Statista stated the global telemedicine market is projected to grow massively by 2030 and is estimated to reach $460 billion.

Many factors culminated in the rise of telemedicine. The future trends are listed below.

Digital Transformation Approach

It is a well-known fact that health care has been slow when it comes to the adoption of digital technologies. However, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the process of providing care remotely. The benefits of telemedicine have caught the eyes of medical enterprises, and therefore a big chunk of investment has come its way.

AI

The application of AI in medicine is myriad. AI is the way to go, from automatic patient interactions to modeling medical care plans with predictive analysis. AI-based chatbots quickly learn patterns and accelerate care delivery by helping patients without a doctor.

Proliferation of mHealth

Delivering health through mobile applications and cell technologies is a trend to look forward to. With advanced mobile features and apps, providing care through online appointments is convenient and time- and cost-saving. Several mHealth startups have set up shops to design better products to bolster telemedicine.

The Advent of New Technologies

With new and advanced technologies, telemedicine will continue to rise. 5G, virtual reality, IoMT and AI provide more unique avenues to remote care. 5G is on its way to transforming telemedicine with faster networks and better connections between patients and doctors. The fast connection will enable clinics to offer better medical images, remote patient monitoring and virtual meetings.

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Conclusion

The area of telemedicine can drive patient satisfaction, reduce no-shows and increase revenue for clinics. Patients can also streamline health care access by leveraging the different telemedicine offerings. People with mental disorders or chronic diseases should opt for direct clinic visits rather than connecting with a physician online.

Clinics looking to start telemedicine services must understand the basic terminologies and the laws in place. In addition, telemedicine solutions are not cheap, and it takes research of the pros and cons to opt for the best. Therefore it’s essential to chalk out the ins and outs of the subject before making decisions.

How have the benefits of telemedicine boosted your practice? Let us know.