How To Guide For: A Look At What Telemedicine Is And The Pros And Cons of Telemedicine For The Patie

Telemedicine is the remote delivery of healthcare services such as health assessments or consultations, over the telephone or the web. It allows healthcare providers to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients without the need for an in-person visit. Telemedicine can be classified into three main categories: remote patient monitoring (which is a technology to enable monitoring of patients outside of conventional clinical settings which may increase access to care and decrease healthcare delivery costs), store-and-forward (is a type of telemedicine consultation that uses still digital images of a patient for the purpose of rendering a medical opinion or diagnosis), and interactive telemedicine (allows physicians and patients to communicate in real time. Such sessions can be conducted in the patient's home or in a nearby medical facility and include telephone conversations or the use of video conferencing software). Telemedicine makes it possible for physicians to treat patients whenever needed and wherever the patient is, by using a computer or smartphone. There are many pros and cons for the patient when it comes to Telemedicine. Lets start with some of the pros. First being that Telemedicine offers more convenient and accessible patient care and one of the biggest benefits to Telemedicine is the healthcare savings cost. Having remote analysis and monitoring services significantly reduces healthcare service costs, saving money for the patient, doctor and insurance companies. Telemedicine also reduces unnecessary non-urgent ER visits and eliminates transportation expenses for regular checkups. Now lets discuss the cons. One of the biggest downsides is technical and electrical glitches. Things happen and power goes out, and you may have no internet. During times like this it can make it difficult to schedule an online appointment or to see your doctor online. Another downside is that Telemedicine can reduce actual interaction with doctors which can lead to improper consultations. Another big drawback to Telemedicine is that physical evaluation or assessment and many kinds of diagnosis are not possible. To learn more about Telemedicine and the pros and cons of Telemedicine for the patient click on the pictures below to read the articles.