How are Telemedicine apps shaping the future of healthcare?

Telemedicine has been a common household name. There has been an increase in the use of mobile apps for Telemedicine in the last few years. People use the applications to get in touch with the doctors and seek treatment. This practice is about rendering services to patients located elsewhere. According to a survey, nearly 65% of doctors use Telemedicine to remotely monitor and treat patients who do not have direct access to immediate health care facilities. The healthcare providers help the physicians to extend the reach and provide enhanced services.

The following are some reasons that telemedicine apps are gaining popularity.

1. Convenient to patients: To get medical help, one has to make an appointment beforehand, visit hospitals, and wait in the long queues to see the doctor. Everyone uses mobile apps at the tip of the fingers nowadays in this digital age; people prefer convenient access to healthcare facilities rather than meeting up. In rural sectors also the percentage of people using mobile apps for healthcare services is increasing day by day.

2. Saves time and faster services: The use of Telemedicine app eliminates the need to spend time in waiting rooms and visit hospitals to meet doctors in person. Patients can connect with their doctors through videoconferencing. This reduces time and enhances faster services.

3. Mobile Health records: Earlier, patients couldn’t access their medical records. But now, with the help of the telemedicine app by PatientMD lets the user access the patient’s health record and allows them to share with their friends and family and doctors.

4. Clinician flexibility: The physician has to work more than 60 hours a week. It affects a doctor’s mental health. Using Telemedicine to treat patients allows the doctor to maintain the work-life balance. The doctors can provide treatment at their convenient timing and from any place.

5. Less paperwork: Due to the burden of all the paperwork, the doctors can treat only a limited number of patients. They must also stay behind to complete all the paperwork. The telemedicine app by PatientMD reduces the paperwork and enables doctors to treat more patients.

6. Improved revenue outcomes: Reduced paperwork allows more patients consultations in a limited time. After the work hours at the hospital, the doctors can provide consultation. It gives the doctors full flexibility in seeing an increased number of patients. Doctors tend to generate more revenue with more patients.

7. Enhanced security: The Telemedicine app contains the sensitive health records and data of patients. Patient data must be safe by end-to-end encryption. PatientMD provides HIPAA-compliant PHR or patient health record system, which allows the patient to be in total control of their clinical records.

8. 24/7 consultations: Patients can reach doctors 24/7. The telemedicine app by PatientMD ensures the doctor is 24 hours and seven days available to the patients. Even the patients can contact doctors as per their convenience.

9. Cloud access and mobility: The use of a mobile phone for medical services has increased among doctors and patients. The telemedicine application is integrated into the cloud platforms so the patients, as well as doctors, have access to the medical records anytime and anywhere.

What Do The Statistics Say?

There’s been plenty of research on the subject of Telemedicine, how the population receives it, and its effects.

As per the research conducted by the American Well found out that almost 64% of consumers were now open to visiting a doctor through a video. The study also found that if a video component was involved, consumers were more likely to use telemedicine services. These videos made them feel more engaged, and they thought if they had a video chat with the doctor, then that would help the doctors in making a precise diagnosis. This same study also found that 88% of the consumers said that they’d prefer choosing a doctor that had an online profile and decide according to the experience level that was listed. They concluded that these patients would prefer that the doctors had an online presence because this showed that they were up-to-date with the latest technologies.

Finally, the American Well study also confirmed that 62% of consumers said that they thought that a video should cost them less than an actual visit to the doctor. This is interesting because even though the doctor gives the patient an hour in both cases, the patient may be saving on fuel and other such costs by communicating through an online video.

With the increasing popularity of Telemedicine, there is no doubt that the future of healthcare with these apps is auspicious.