Telemedicine can be considered a 20th-century term but it gained wider currency in the 21st century. The present era of pandemic proved that it was the most crucial technological development that was imagined and translated to reality nearly a century back. It is an unavoidable fact that the present time is an era of ageing and greying society. 70% of the countries in the world will face this threat of the growing ageing population in near future. This arises the need for technology to be implemented in the area of health and medicine. Telemedicine has proved to be a great relief in the pandemic times when the whole world was locked inside and was limited to the four walls of the house. Medical needs were successfully met by this platform. In the technological era, IT companies are aiding the medicine industry by developing applications and advanced platforms where organizing meeting with clients sitting in far-flung areas can be made possible.
Benefits for the patients or clients
- Elderly patients: It is a viable platform that can be used by elderly patients who cannot commute physically.
- Economic: this platform is economic in terms of time and money. It saves time of travelling to the venue and fuel costs involved in the same. It reduces the geographical distance between the caregiver and the care seeker.
- Improves quality: it has been proved by the recent researches that the quality of the care has improved with telemedicine. Users of the telemedicine show a level of satisfaction and contentment.
- Psychological ailments: patients seeking counselling can easily access the specialist by tele mode. It removes the dependency of the patients over their family members as they can themselves consult the doctor or book appointment.
- Reduces family burden: patients are usually dependent on some of their family members for taking them for the consultation. This platform can be accessed via mobile phone or their personal devices for appointment bookings.
Benefits for the doctors or clinicians
- Patient assessment: this platform can be used by the doctor to assess whether the patient needs the personal visit or tele mode can opt for the treatment.
- Reduces workload: many clerical tasks that waste a lot of time like maintaining the records and files can be minimized. A doctor need not burden his mind about thinking about maintaining files and patient visit and payment records.
- Timely reminders: this platform gives a timely reminder to the patients and the doctors about the date and time of the appointment booking.
- Convenient mode: a doctor can enjoy a sense of freedom as he can choose the mode date and time of the availability. It can save a lot of time for the doctor.
- Reduces risks: this mode helps in avoiding the risk of passing infections from one patient to another. It gives the convenience of attending patients via far mode.
To reiterate, it can be argued that technology is advancing at a pace and it becomes pertinent to advance and move ahead with the same pace, embracing the technology where ever it can prove useful and favorable.