Digital technologies have transformed the ways people communicate, collaborate and make decisions, healthcare and well-being included.
In the era of increased awareness of diseases and general interest in well-being, both patients and doctors are looking for on-demand healthcare which results in improved outcomes due to instant interaction and availability of health data. Therefore, it’s no surprise that telemedicine is enjoying growth.
While telemedicine clearly looks beneficial to an individual patient, it impacts the healthcare system as a whole. First of all, telemedicine transforms one of the most critical areas of equal access to healthcare.
Thousands of patients every day face the issue of long wait times not just to specialists but to primary care as well. No need to discuss what consequences it may have. With telehealth, non-emergency issues that are in many cases block the access to care for patients with serious conditions, can be addressed without physical admission. Therefore, primary care and specialists’ time can be dedicated to those patients whose condition requires instant and urgent medical involvement.
Another area that benefits from telemedicine adoption is costs that are growing rapidly for patients and healthcare providers. With telemedicine both can achieve savings: for patients it eliminates the need for unnecessary services and for healthcare organizations it helps reallocate resources to cases that require special attention.
Last but not the least, telemedicine can improve health outcomes by analyzing data that can be remotely collected via digital applications and tools. This way specialists can spot warning signs in patients’ condition early and act upon them in a more urgent manner, preventing tragic scenarios.