Virily Editor
It’s not hard to notice how ubiquitous telehealth has become. Telehealth has become a common practice in today’s tech-driven world, from the reminder email you got from your family doctor to the post-visit survey from your chiropractor. Telehealth is here to stay and will play a decisive role in transforming health care provision into the future.
According to MarketsandMarkets, the growth of the worldwide telehealth market continues to increase. If you haven’t already, now is the time to join the telehealth revolution. However, how can you know which form of telehealth is ideal for your patients and your business?
Types of Telemedicine
There are four primary types of telehealth solutions in today’s medical business, even though there are numerous variations of telehealth. You and your patients may profit from each area differently, depending on what you need to acquire a complete picture of their health.
1. Real-time interactive services
Patients who need emergency medical treatment might benefit from interactive services. Phone, internet, and home visits are just a few options available for this kind of service. Following a patient’s medical history review and discussion of any current symptoms, an evaluation is performed during face-to-face consultations.
- Teleneuropsychology
Teleneuropsychology is an excellent example of telehealth that provides neuropsychological counseling and testing over the phone for patients with cognitive disorders. Video technology examines the patient using standard assessment methods. Even though hospitals must keep quality standards and administration, one research from 2014 indicated that this kind of remote medical care is a viable and dependable alternative to regular in-person consultations.
- Telenursing
Hospitals can provide nursing services remotely through telenursing, which uses communication technology. It involves diagnosing and monitoring health issues and symptoms over the phone in consultations.
Affordability and availability of services for patients, especially in rural areas, make this kind of telemedicine more popular. Because hospitals can address minor disorders early, and patients can obtain guidance on whether or not hospitalization is necessary, it has the potential to alleviate the strain on patients in hospitals.
- Telepharmacy
Using telepharmacy, patients may get pharmacological advice from a pharmacist if they cannot meet in person. Thanks to this technology, monitoring medicine and providing phone support for patients is possible. Depending on restrictions, patients may get refill authorizations to obtain their usual drugs.
- Telerehabilitation
Telerehabilitation is a method of rehabilitation that uses technology to interact with and treat rehabilitation patients. Videoconferencing and webcams are often used to communicate symptoms and progress in the healthcare setting.
2. Remote patient monitoring
When a patient is receiving therapy, healthcare practitioners can monitor their progress without meeting with a physician in person. You may use this to help patients who are too far away, too expensive, or too time-consuming to attend a health facility for a face-to-face session owing to their illness or other circumstances.
With the push of a button, specific telehealth systems may rapidly send patient data to the patient’s complete care team or put it into the EHR. Having all of the patient’s information at their fingertips allows care team members to respond promptly to any difficulties. Another benefit of using telehealth is that patients may monitor their health, which reduces the burden on caretakers.
3. Store-and-Forward Telemedicine
“Asynchronous telemedicine” is another term for “store-and-forward telemedicine.” Using this technology, doctors, radiologists, and specialists may access patient medical records such as test results, imaging studies, video clips, and other data from another place. An email-like service is used for this, but it employs a sophisticated security system to protect patient privacy.
Patients, primary care providers, and specialists may work more effectively with store-and-forward telemedicine because they can all examine the information at a time that is convenient for them. Thanks to this new method, patients may now access a multi-provider care team, even if they live far apart and in various time zones.
Certain medical professions, such as dermatology, ophthalmology, and radiology, use store-and-forward to diagnose and treat patients.
4. Mobile Health
Mobile health, often known as mHealth, is the fourth category of telehealth. Thanks to smart gadgets, many specialized parts of health care may now benefit from continuous data collecting regarding a patient’s behavior or condition. The pulse rate, heart rate, and, in some instances, blood sugar levels may all be monitored by smartphones, tablets, or smart wearables like the iWatch. A wide variety of tools, such as those that measure heart rate variability, sleep patterns, activity patterns, weight fluctuations, nutritional intake, and more, are now accessible to help people adopt better habits and lifestyles. Patients and customers of telehealth providers are given recommendations for these applications, which the providers then include into the patients’ or clients’ medical records.
Many telehealth options may help your patients improve their lifestyle habits and overall health in the ever-growing telehealth sector. You may monitor your patients’ daily vitals through telehealth, enabling you to take action and alter their therapy to enhance their well-being.
