Is the threat of covid-19 stopping you from visiting hospitals? Are you ignoring your health concerns because of these difficult times? What if we told you that there is a way to consult your doctor without having to step out? Have you heard about the alternative called “Telemedicine”? Telemedicine has become the way to go as we go through this pandemic. So, what is it exactly? And is it as effective as the actual care you’d get if you went to the hospital? Here is all you need to know about this alternative!

Telemedicine permits medical services experts to assess, analyze and treat patients from a distance and without any social interactions utilizing media communications innovation. The methodology has experienced a striking development in the most recent decade and it is turning into an inexorably significant piece of the American medical care foundation.

In recent years, the development of recent technologies has made telemedicine easier to be carried out, and hence it has evolved immensely in the last decade. The covid-19 pandemic has bought upon a mandatory social distancing which has resulted in a decrease in the number of effective treatments, telemedicine has made treatments of patients accessible. Both infected and uninfected patients can be treated using this method.

As telemedicine acts as a combination of techniques used to connect to the patient as well as the devices used to analyze and provide proper information about the patient’s health status, it makes the detection of the urgency to intervene possible. Therefore, it represents both screening and diagnostic tools. Usage of these tools helps in a constant follow-up with patients who require continuous attention.

Nowadays, if an appointment is missed, the patient can send the required data to the specialist after recording it using the appropriate tools required for the process. Here is an example by us to help you understand better – Telemedicine can be used for Diabetes management of a patient; a Type-2 diabetes patient can simply record his/her sugar levels periodically using appropriate diagnostic tools and send it to their doctor who can maintain proper records for the same and give instructions regarding any changes that have to be made in the doses of the insulin taken on the daily basis. This will help in the facilitation of the patient’s health from time to time without any physical interaction.

Telemedicine refers to remote clinical services and is often confused with the term “Telehealth”. But both the terms have different meanings. Telemedicine is the act of medication utilizing innovation to convey care from a distance.

A doctor in one area utilizes a media communications foundation to convey care to a patient at an inaccessible site whereas telehealth is different from telemedicine as it refers to a broader spectrum of health services including education services, consultations which count as non-clinical and clinical aspects however telemedicine constitutes only of clinical health services which include doctor-patient supervision and consultancy.

Treatments that are possible using Telemedicine

Telemedicine administrations can run broadly by strength. A specialist may utilize telemedicine to do post-activity registration with patients, to ensure their injury isn’t tainted. A gynecologist may utilize a live telemedicine solution to give contraception counseling. An endocrinologist may do live video chats with patients to talk about late lab results and answer questions.

The diseases and disorders that can be treated or kept in check are vast in the field of telemedicine. Several allergies, infections, insect bites, cold and flu, rashes, sprains and strains, UTIs, bladder infections can be easily treated; and the list goes on!

Types of Telemedicine consultation

Telemedicine includes a proper process to consult a patient with proper care. There are various types in which it is carried out.

1. Store-and-forward telemedicine solutions enable the healthcare workers with information of the patient such as medical data containing lab results, images, videos, and recordings. Consultation can be done through phone calls or emails.
2. Remote patient monitoring allows healthcare professionals to monitor the vital signs of the patient. This makes it easy to watch for warning signs and quickly intervene where patients are at health risk or are recovering from recent surgery. This type of telemedicine is sometimes also called telemonitoring of home telehealth. This has gained popularity in the field of chronic care management. The health tracking tools on the patient’s mobile phone are also useful in this method.
3. Real-time telemedicine assessment requires a live interaction with the patient and the health professional in charge of the process through a video chat. The patient is diagnosed with treatment.

Telemedicine has made easy diagnoses of problems that are not chronic but need quick attention and has made proper healthcare possible even in rural areas. The pandemic has been tough on us and it’s time we focus on our health without having to worry about stepping out. Use the Docty application and platform to easily access and consult with your choice of doctors without the hassle of traveling to clinics and waiting in queues and you will then know that telemedicine is as effective as actual care!