Telemedicine Implementation: Is it Effective and Safe for Patients?

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telemedicine implementation

Telemedicine is the practice of using telecommunication technology (cell phone, computer, etc.) to interact with a doctor in order to receive a remote diagnosis and treatment for your health issue. But even though technology has advanced at an incredibly rapid pace over the last couple of decades, it can’t solve all of our problems. So, it is important to ask: is telemedicine implementation safe for our medical patients?

While there may be some drawbacks and limitations to telemedicine implementation, there are also many benefits which are worth discussing. For example, diagnosing something like brain cancer is clearly beyond the scope of telemedicine implementation. However, there are some cases where a health practitioner does not need to be physically present in order to give a diagnosis and prescribe medicine to a patient. In these situations, enhancing consulting services will help reach to under-served communities and those without an effective means of transport. Telemedicine implementation can also make the process more efficient, for the doctor and patient alike. Luckily, there are several hundred thousand consulting services worldwide in a variety of business sectors. The health sector is just one of the hundreds that are taking advantage of the advances in technology to help serve people.

Benefits of Telemedicine Implementation

Here are some of the top benefits for patients when they choose to invest in a telemedicine implementation service:

It’s easy to find doctors who accept your insurance: Insurance is a tricky world. Finding a doctor who accepts your insurance can be difficult, but telemedicine makes it an easy process. This helps patients “shop around” and find doctors who will accept their insurance.

Increased access to specialists: If you are a specialist in your field, you understand how overwhelming it can be at times to ensure you care for as many patients as possible. Adopting a telemedicine implementation allows you to help as many people as possible because more people now have direct access to your knowledge and skill set. This is a win-win-win for everyone.

Quickly Schedule Appointments: Not all medical issues are matters of life and death that need to be determined in a matter of minutes. That being said, timeliness for people needing access to health care is important. Sometimes getting started a few days earlier can be critical in helping a patient. Even if it isn’t a matter of life and death, getting started a few days or weeks earlier can help patients live more comfortably and get back on a path to health and vitality.

Ease of access: Let’s face it — a lot of people are lazy and won’t bother to set up a doctor appointment, especially when they need to go in for a yearly checkup. However, other people are just simply busy, having so much to do that scheduling a doctor appointment and then drive to the office is just too much. They would rather be working on their business (or their golf game). Telemedicine implementation helps both the lazy and the busy by giving them quick access to a health care professional that can meet their needs.

View and send medical records: One of the greatest advantages for patients using telemedicine is that all of their records are electronic. Electronic records make it easy for new doctors to quickly pick up where the previous doctor left off. This is especially vital for patients moving or a retiring doctor. Having quick access to medical records means less room for error on the physician’s part and greater confidence for the patient.

Direct access to your doctor: “I think I might have leprosy because I was reading online that…” While WebMD is a wonderful website, they might make you think you have a life-threatening illness when you actually have a cold. Through the advancements of telemedicine implementation at your doctor’s office, you will have direct access to a doctor ready to give the proper advice. This helps alleviate patient anxiety in many cases, and it definitely helps keep patients informed. The more informed a patient is, the better decisions they can make.

When you’re looking for telemedicine consulting services, rely on CIS Consulting.