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Tag Archives: Telemedicine

10
Apr
Date April 10, 2020
Categories Telemedicine

Telemedicine Is Lowering The Cost Of Visits During Covid19 Pandemic

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.

Author securemedical
03
Apr
Date April 3, 2020
Categories Telemedicine

What Is Telemedicine?

According to WHO, telemedicine is a term formed in the 1970s, which means “healing at a distance.” 

Following the recent Covid-19 pandemic, telemedicine has been at the forefront of the fight against the virus. This global virus has forced a needed change in how we look at healthcare systems. Governments have had to ramp up their telemedicine offerings in recent times to reduce the flow of traffic to emergency rooms.

In a bid to stop endangering healthcare giver’s lives, hospitals around the world are using telemedicine both within and without the hospital to reduce the incursion of patients needing care. Videos visits are helping to minimize exposure of hospital staff and the exposure of immune-compromised patients.

How to Use Telemedicine?

The best place to start is to contact your health care provider. Most hospitals have a telemedicine portal and app for all their patients. Register and follow all their prompts.

However, if you do not have a PCP, you can still get access to urgent care on the go. There are urgent care apps like Ourdoctor that can give you virtual access to a doctor when you need it.

Over the years, telemedicine has aided doctors to treat patients in three categories:

  • Patients with ongoing conditions like depression or diabetes
  • Patients with everyday care issues like birth control or hair loss
  • Patients with urgent care issues like cold and flu

Kyle Rao, CEO of Ourdoctor, says that there are people of all ages benefiting from using telemedicine it isn’t just young people.

How to Pay for Telemedicine?

When you sign up for telemedicine services like Ourdoctor. Insurance is not required. You can either sign up for a one time visit or a monthly subscription.

When Should You Go to the ER?

Issues of a more severe nature warrant for a visit to the ER. For example, regular shortness of breath, given existing circumstances, should be enough reason to visit your doctor.

Advance notice of your arrival at the urgent care center will benefit you in the end.

Author securemedical
27
Mar
Date March 27, 2020
Categories Telemedicine

Social Distancing? Need to See a Doctor? Telemedicine Could Be The Answer

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, commonly known as the coronavirus outbreak, public health professionals and government authorities have advised people to exercise social distancing to slow down the spread of the virus and consequently save lives. But a lot of people are now wondering how they can access medical services when social distancing. The solution to this dilemma is telemedicine.


Telemedicine can be understood as the process of getting the services of a doctor remotely via the phone, text messages, or even video calls. According to Dr. Rahul Sharma, telemedicine offers an excellent opportunity for healthcare providers to do their part in helping the public minimize the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19. For instance, with telemedicine, people with compromised immune systems, and those in quarantine can get the attention of a doctor without leaving their homes.


It is, therefore, not a surprise that several healthcare providers have reported a tremendous increase in the number of tele-visits in the last few weeks. For instance, compared to the previous six months, Multicare, the state of Washington’s leading community-based health system, has reported a 1300 percent increase in average daily tele-visits this month.


According to Dr. Finkelston, most visits have been about upper respiratory issues such as sinusitis, common cold, coughs, and fever. In other words, most patients who have been seeking medical attention through telemedicine in the recent past have symptoms similar to those that are associated with COVID-19.


But how reliable is telemedicine? Dr. Finkelston notes that teledoctors rely on a patient’s history to diagnose about 80 percent of the cases that they come across. Besides, teledoctors have the necessary experience and lots of medical tricks to understand their patient’s problems without necessarily having to see them in person. For instance, although it is not possible for them to remotely listen to a patient’s lungs, they can examine their respiratory patterns or even get them to take their heart rates. This can be quite helpful in ensuring that doctors get adequate patient information for them to offer the most appropriate medical advice.

Author securemedical
20
Mar
Date March 20, 2020
Categories Telemedicine

Focus Is On Telemedicine to Avoid Interaction With Infected Patients

Coronavirus, also COVID-19 (the respiratory diseases caused by the virus), has been threatening to be a global pandemic and already claimed an estimated 5,000 lives. With new reports of the illness surfacing in different places, many operations have come to a halt, including the suspension of public gatherings. As researchers search for a functional vaccine and treatment for affected patients, congress has been voting on funding Medicare waivers for telemedicine and telehealth services.

The HIMSS (Health Information and Management System Society) canceled their Florida conference last week as a precaution to avoid contracting the deadly virus. In this wake, telehealth lobbyists have spotted the opportunity to push its adoption, citing evidence from the epidemic as a sufficient sample of the value of telemedicine. Telemedicine has emerged as the most effective approach to avoid contact with coronavirus.

New Message for Patients

If you fear that you are infected with the coronavirus, doctors and nurses have a new message. Use the phone first. More doctors involved with coronavirus are steering patients, with mild to severe flu symptoms, towards non-contact telemedicine healthcare. This includes visits conducted via telephone, secure messaging or interactive videos, and web conferencing. The same healthcare system is deployed for providing care remotely to those infected or suspected to have COVID-19.

Telemedicine isn’t novel as it has long been used to expedite care during flu seasons. It allows caregivers to provide instructions and valuable information to affected patients remotely. This form of medical care also allows the doctor to monitor and track the progress of their patients. Besides ruling out contact with the virus, telemedicine reduces long queues at the facility and provides instant help through remote communication technologies.

But How Effective Is Telemedicine in Virus Management?

According to experts, COVID-19 is similar to influenza in its airborne transmission and symptoms manifestation. As such, the same methodologies are used when evaluating patients suspected to be infected. However, there are several challenges telemedicine faces, especially when it comes to organizing actual on-site treatment for patients in severe stages.

Author securemedical
22
Sep
Date September 22, 2014
Categories Telemedicine

Arizona-Mexico border small clinic in Nogales uses Telemedicine to treat 5-year-old girl who was born with HIV

As people’s lives become increasingly busier, it is becoming more and more difficult to make time for any extra activities, let alone appointments. Some people are so busy that they can’t even afford to become sick, either because they would quickly become behind at work, or because they can’t afford to miss any money. Fortunately, telemedicine is becoming more widely available, and is a good option for people who are unable to see a doctor in person for whatever reason.

What is telemedicine and how does it work?

Telemedicine is a simple but very useful concept. It involves connecting patients with their medical professionals via a computer for teleconferencing. This would totally replace an in-person visit, and it can be useful in the following situations:

  • In situations when a person is located very far away from the doctor’s office. Telemedicine would make it possible for anyone in the world to consult with any physician, regardless of location.

  • It would make it unnecessary for busy professionals to take time off work for a doctor’s appointment, because they could see the doctor during a break at work.

  • Some patients may be physically unable to travel to a doctor’s office, either due to handicap or some other chronic condition.

Telemedicine is becoming more and more popular for a reason. Many patients are unable to consult with certain doctors who may be experts in specific fields. Telemedicine makes it easy and convenient for both the doctor as well as the patient.

For people that believe that adequate diagnosis and treatment can’t be performed using telemedicine, they are totally wrong. A doctor who specialized in working with children with infectious diseases had one patient who was truly unbelievable. The patient, a young child with HIV, was unable to travel to the doctor’s location because it was in another country, and the child’s HIV made her very chronically ill. The patient, who was not expected to live long, was able to consult with the physical through the telemedicine services. Not only was the treatment that the doctor provided effective, but it was so incredibly effective that the child, who wasn’t expected to live long, is now a relatively healthy adult who is thriving as a result of this doctor’s life-saving treatment.

Obviously telemedicine is a viable way in which to obtain medical treatment in cases where a person is unable to travel to see a doctor, either due to being elderly, disabled, chronically ill, and even people who are healthy a majority of the time but are simply too busy to take time off work to see a doctor.

Author securemedical
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