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The novel Coronavirus (also COVID19) pandemic has pushed telemedicine at the forefront of healthcare provision, supported by global calls for social distancing. In this wake, telehealth has emerged as a practical solution that physicians use during this and other pandemics, especially those requiring social distancing. For many, who find going to the grocery concerning, visiting a hospital office or exam room seems like the last resort, considering infected persons might have been there. If you share the same concerns, here are two ways you can maneuver through telemedicine during a pandemic

1. Remote communication and conferencing

Telemedicine refers to the use of IT platforms to facilitate the delivery of healthcare. It involves patients and physicians setting up remote appointments via phone calls, video conferencing, and other remote communication options available. If you are concerned about your health status, you no longer need to visit the hospital. Instead, you can set up a camera to conference with a doctor for professional diagnosis and recommendations. According to doctors, this helps to deliver healthcare when people are scared to visit hospitals and clinics during pandemics.

2. Online healthcare research

Most people oversight the invaluable resource that exists in online healthcare platforms. Web conferencing aside, you can find updates about the spread of the pandemic, preventative measures you should observe, and practical remedies for symptoms online. Some hospitals, platforms, and doctors send information directly to the patients via mail so that you can use them for periodic updates. You can also visit online resource centers, which contain helpful information concerning managing pandemics.

Summary

IT platforms can be used for healthcare interventions, especially when preventing the spread of a pandemic. The population can receive up to date warnings and helpful information straight to their phone or email. Doctors can offer remote symptom diagnosis through conferencing mediums and even use models to help onsite practitioners provide necessary medical procedures. You can also subscribe to authority feeds, notification centers, and newsletters for up to date information about the pandemic.

The novel COVID-19 pandemic has forced health care specialists to turn to online solutions. Most of them have said they currently see the positive signs of this.

India, one of the countries hit by the new coronavirus, issued a lock-down on March 25, which forced doctors to resort to telemedicine to cater to patients. Dr. Mythili Krishnamurthy, a gynecologist in Tamil Nadu, a state in India, was compelled to attend to her patient online in line with the government restrictions to slow down the spread of the very-contagious virus.

Doctors over all over the United States have used telemedicine companies such as Ourdoctor to analyze the symptoms of patients who have shown signs of having the Covid19 Virus. 

A Practical Tech Solution to Prevent COVID-19 Spread

While many countries are implementing telemedicine, it hasn’t gained ground in many places. Some drawbacks to its success include the involved costs, liability, patients’ security, and poor computer literacy among health care providers and patients.

Dr. Wang, a Medical Director at Saint Barbara Health Center, New Jersey, said, “I’ve now realized that we get shallow medical information about our patients in our exam rooms. Now I’m astonished about the many pop-up messages I get on my phone.” She not only believes that telemedicine saves time, money, and travel, but it can exponentially improve.

Statistics indicate that three in four Americans have to stay at home, but that should not be at the expense of the health conditions. Many doctors, including Wang, never foresaw doctors using telemedicine during this global health crisis. Many seventy-year-olds have turned to social media to communicate with their doctors. That contradicts the rational thought that senior citizens don’t know how to use smartphones.

Some of the roadblocks to the implementation of telemedicine in the US include reimbursements issues, legal matters like patient privacy, licensing, insurance, and security. The federal health programmed such as Medicare and Medicaid, eased the geographical and financial requirements for telemedicine practices. Now many insurance providers have decided to do so, as well.

The advent of the pandemic COVID-19 has disrupted the normal functioning of American lives, and the healthcare sector is no exception. Increasing emergency response costs for unnecessary cases are burdening the economy. Health care conversations have shifted from affordable care to measures of managing COVID-19, whose value will be borne by the government. The issue of the ballooning health care cost presents serious cost implications on the American economy amidst calls to increase funds to the COVID-19 funding package and the state-level emergency fund.
Health care researchers spread over the years have studied and implemented policies to reduce the price tag associated with non-urgent issues in the emergency departments. For several years people have failed to embrace self-care directives. Instead, they overcrowd the emergency centers delaying attention for deserving cases.
Statistics from previous pandemics show that the percentages of people that visited the emergency centers due to unnecessary reasons increased. For example, 87% and 90% of the H1N1 emergency visits in 2008 and 2009 respectively were avoidable. The government lost up to $2,032 in response to unnecessary cases that can be addressed less expensively.
The current pandemic has elicited more fear amongst Americans due to uncertainty on the criteria to determine emergency cases of COVID-19 symptoms. More people will probably visit the emergency department even when they can recover through self-care.

One plausible solution that can reduce the hefty emergency treatment cost as Americans grapple with novella coronavirus is virtual care. Medical experts recommend triage through telemedicine to determine the risk of diseases and consequently avoid overstraining on healthcare resources, especially during pandemics. Companies such as Ourdoctor have developed platforms for triage. Individuals exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 can fill the Ourdoctor online assessment to determine whether they need further medical care. The platform connects them to a pool of a U.S licensed healthcare provider and reports any suspected cases to necessary authorities. Telemedicine is an essential triage tool to filter patients who do not need emergency treatment during the current COVID-19 pandemic.