Have you ever been sitting at home, with an injury that seems to be getting worse or a cold or fever that just won?t go away? Your primary doctor?s office is closed for the day or the weekend, but you don?t think you are bad off enough to visit the emergency room. Besides, the emergency room would probably make you wait for hours and will cost you a lot. Have you ever been sick, wanting to see your doctor, but not being able to make it work with your current work and family schedule? These are actually common situations for American families. Many Americans are unable to see their doctor?s when they feel they need to. These are some of the advantages of telemedicine.
The number of patients using telehealth services will grow to 7 million in 2018, up from 350,000 in 2013. People are learning about the many advantages of telemedicine and how convenient it can be. Telemedicine is the practice of visiting with a medical professional over an internet type service, such as Skype or other chat applications. The patient?s symptoms are described to the doctor virtually and the imaging software allows them to actually show them any visual problems. The doctor than is able to provide a diagnoses or a suggestion for treatment. This saves both the patient and the doctor a lot of time. HIPAA compliant software also makes it more possible, ensuring patients that they are given the same amount of confidentiality they are during a regular medical visit checkup.
89% of healthcare executives said they expect telemedicine to transform the U.S. healthcare system in the next decade. The idea of telemedicine is still somewhat new and people may still be somewhat skeptical. However, over the years as the internet usage and way we do things continues to change, people will become more and more open to the benefits of telehealth. They will see that the telemedicine software is safe and that telehealth solutions is actually very useful and beneficial.
Additionally, 64% of Americans have said they would be willing to have a video visit with a doctor. Telemedicine is essentially this. The advantages of telemedicine will even expand into other medical professionals, such as mental health. Mental health patients may be scared or embarrassed to travel to a local mental health professional?s office. With telemedicine, they have the confidentiality they desire and they never have to actually leave the house. Also, the idea of sharing your secrets and yourself fully with a stranger over the internet may be more appealing to some. The advantages of telemedicine are expected to expand widely in this field. The advantages will soon be clear, and more and more people will opt to using the internet.
It is no surprise that our future holds medical office visits over the internet. Everything else we do in today?s world involves the internet in some way. We are already scheduling appointments and communicating with our doctor?s over Email or the internet. We are already requesting prescriptions and consulting with our pharmacies and our mental health counselors over the internet. It is just a matter of time until the entire medical office visit is done over the internet.
Telemedicine is the future of our medical world. The advantages are already outweighing the disadvantages and software is safer than ever. Patients are becoming more comfortable with the idea of it and the profits for the healthcare fields will only continue to increase. Many people believe that telemedicine is the future of our medical world.