With the advent of technology, clinical healthcare, patient and professional health need not be affected by the impediment of distance anymore. The delivery of health and health-related services through electronic information and telecommunications technologies is called as telehealth. Medical care, provider and patient education, health information services also fall under the gamut of telehealth.
Tap into a wider patient base
Even though telehealth’s primary goal is to bring medical services to those who can’t schedule regular visits with the doctor, it can fare well when it comes to getting newer patients as well. By identifying those patients who might be averse or not keen on hospital visits due to location/other factors, healthcare providers can reach those patients and tap into a wider patient base.
mHealth
It is predicted that India will be home to around 468 million smartphone users by 2021. It also means that healthcare providers have an immense opportunity to leverage this to give services. Mobile health or popularly mHealth refers to healthcare applications and programs that patients use on their mobile, tablet devices. These applications and programs enable users to track their health, set appointments and consultations, reminders and share information/chat with their doctors.
Remote Patient Monitoring
Remote Patient Monitoring is the process by which patient health data can be collected, evaluated and transmitted through electronic devices such as wearables, smartphone devices, gadgets and internet-enabled computers. Remote Patient Monitoring technologies also help you to collect data like heart rate, blood pressure, glucose levels, oxygen levels which may be crucial in alerting during times of emergency. RPM will also help detect symptoms and pave way for earlier preventive care or treatment.
More patient engagement
With the presence of more telehealth technologies through mobile apps and whatnot, the patient engagement levels have considerably risen up. Users are more aware of their health situations, doing more exercise and tracking their fitness levels and learning more from the educational content that these telehealth services provide. Many even converse with providers online and set appointments through telehealth communication channels thereby taking control of their health.
Ultimately, telehealth has changed the behaviour of people and patients towards healthcare for the better. From the convenience of care to increased access, telehealth is set to evolve the way healthcare is experienced.