From March 2020, since the COVID-19 pandemic spelt devastation, the life of people and how businesses function has undergone a drastic shift globally. Suddenly WFH has become the new normal; students are learning online, interviews are done virtually, and much more.
However, the healthcare industry has also not been left untouched. Lately, there has been a boom in healthcare app development as people have started consulting virtually, ordering medicines online, scheduling tests online, etc. Telehealth is the new way to good health for people all around the world.
Telehealth Graph Soaring High
We agree that COVID-19 has pumped up momentum in the telehealth industry, but there is no denying that this industry had started gaining ground much before the pandemic around 2014-15. Around 90% of the healthcare executives had started working on telehealth infrastructure as early as 2014.
Earlier ambulatory and serious healthcare issues were the center part of telehealth, but since covid-19 has arrived, differential services like online psychiatric counseling, disability service providers, online health checkups, etc., are the new normal in telehealth.
Benefits of Telehealth for service providers
The patients and medical professionals also enjoy a good deal of benefits from telehealth, which is an output of healthcare app development.
- Covid-19 has ignited the need for distance diagnosis and medical care. Doctors find it convenient to conduct online consultations and prescribe the treatment when physical testing is avoided.
- Through telehealth, medical professionals can also reach out to patients located at remote locations and in rural areas. They need not travel for that purpose.
- Like online shopping with a click of a finger, healthcare can now be accessed with a tap of the finger. Services like digital reminders, appointment booking, medicine orders, etc. can be done online easily with telehealth. Virtual care saves on time and resources compared to a physical trip to a clinic or doctor.
- Remote patient monitoring technology provided by telehealth offers regular and easy monitoring of patients' conditions like diabetes, heart condition, blood pressure, etc.
- Medical professionals can reduce overhead costs of hospitals or clinics by telehealth consulting. It offers more flexibility and better productivity.
Benefits of Telehealth for patients
- For patients suffering from chronic illnesses like diabetes, high BP, congestive heart failure can avail regular consultation and health monitoring by doctors remotely, like a boon in disguise.
- Extended access to psychotherapy and behavioural therapies at patients' disposal. Better at meeting needs of quick accessibility and immediacy of the patients. Thus there is more trust and a positive attitude towards the service provider.
Telehealth challenges for the service Provider
Though healthcare app development in telehealth has several benefits, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed:
- Reimbursement of Medicaid and medicare services is not available similar to the lines of on-hospital or clinic visits. Still, how things would shape up in the future is unclear.
- There exist some restrictions and regulations in telehealth that pose challenges. There are few benefits that service providers hesitate to offer. The fees for online services are much lower than physical clinic visits, which is certainly a drawback.
- Healthcare organizations that do not have next-gen infrastructure face problems scaling the benefits of telehealth. Though some platforms help such organizations, they need to increase in numbers to cover maximum such facilities.
Telehealth challenges for the patients
With the advent of telehealth, there comes concern about maintaining the data privacy of the patients. These challenges require patients to be well-informed about the security features being offered by the platform.
- When the covid-19 pandemic came, the shortcoming of the online platform Zoom was exposed, leading them to make some urgent security updates. Similarly, patients require secure telehealth platforms; password-protected to minimize exposure to a large number of clinicians.
- One of the most significant drawbacks of telehealth is the lack of awareness among prospective patients. If they don't know the benefits, how will they ask for it?
- Most people may not have access to this technology. Even if they have access, they lack the knowledge about how to use it. This case is typical in rural areas and among baby boomers. Thus educating the masses on the use of telehealth is needed.
Conclusion
Future belongs to telehealth, thanks to advanced healthcare app development services. But it's essential to address its challenges simultaneously. Digital healthcare is the need of the hour and creates stronger patient-doctor connections.
Understand about Telehealth which is the future of Healthcare industry to put it simply, is a way for improving the quality of healthcare.
Remote care should be the standard of care — learn why we must make telehealth a permanent part of the healthcare toolkit.https://intouchhealth.com/the-telehealth-revolution-has-only-just-begun/
