Telemedicine is the use of technology to deliver treatments remotely with the help of a person who just needs to be knowledgeable enough to carry out the processes told by the doctor.
It is usually done via any video conferencing application with the help of some tracking and health monitoring applications and devices wherein on one side there is the Specialist doctor and on the other side the practitioner. It gained widespread attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby Indian doctors were giving telemedicine services even to people in African countries. It is particularly helpful for underserved areas and remote locations.
Benefits of Telemedicine
1) Improved Accessibility - Telemedicine eliminates geographical barriers, providing medical care to patients in underserved or remote locations, saving their time and money means making it more accessible and cheap. The Indian government has launched the Ayushman Bharat Health Account(ABHA) Card which has all the details of the patients along with all the past diseases and information about any medications.
2) Convenience & Time Savings.- Telemedicine offers flexibility in scheduling appointments, taking prescriptions, reducing waiting time at clinics, etc., this makes health care affordable for those in remote locations and convenient for those individuals who are busy most of the time.
3) Enhanced Continuity of Care- With telemedicine continuity with enhanced service is very easy and convenient. Imagine taking a patient from home to the hospital, especially in the case of a remote location, for a recheck, this makes the process burdensome and increases unnecessary costs but by using this technology this process becomes super-easy as it just needs to turn on the video-conferencing device and some related applications.
4) Cost-effectiveness- If we talk about the cost, then in most countries health care is very costly, and over vast population of the world is poor to very poor. Approximately 80 Crore population of India is poor and needs to take government ration to have food. Today there are increasing health problems because of bad lifestyle choices, so health care needs to be cheap and cost-effective so that everyone can access it and telemedicine offers a good option.
Challenges & Limitations
While there are many benefits of telemedicine it has some challenges as well
1) Technological barrier- In India only, 48% of the population has no access to the internet with the majority of them being from rural areas, so the technological barrier is a grave issue, and solving it is very important. Upon it most of the people are illiterate in villages and the digital divide is a major issue here, so efforts are needed to bridge this gap and ensure equitable access.
2) Privacy and Security Concerns - Transmitting sensitive patient data over the Internet poses the risk of privacy being breached which can have many consequences for the patient. The healthcare system must implement robust measures to protect patient data and comply with data protection regulations.
3) Limited Physical examination- Telemedicine has limitations in conducting physical examinations which are required for the diagnosis of certain diseases. However, advancements in remote monitoring technologies are expanding the scope of Telemedicine in this regard.
The Future of Telemedicine
The potential of telemedicine is vast and its future looks promising, as technology advances telemedicine will advance and become more integrated into standard healthcare practice.
Key Areas of Development:
1) Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning- It can help healthcare providers in diagnosing and treating patients. AI can read reports predict the future of diseases and provide solutions accordingly.
2) Remote monitoring and wearable devices- The integration of these devices enables real-time tracking of vital signs facilitating proactive care.
3) Mental health services- Telemedicine has emerged as a valuable tool in accessing healthcare for mental health issues providing easy access to professional medical therapists and counselors etc.
Telemedicine has a promising future. It needs to integrate all the vital components that it needs and make it cheaper and more accessible for patients in need. However, the privacy of the patient needs to be preserved, and for this healthcare providers should continue to develop more robust technology the government needs to bring in specific regulations to regulate this sector.
