Telehealth is the future of healthcare around the world through providing high quality healthcare services at the touch of our phone screens. With the recent COVID-19 outbreak, telehealth could be our answer to helping patients who are in isolation.
Our telehealth doctors at 13 Doctor have all the information on how telehealth can help us during this outbreak.
How does telehealth work?
Patients can receive quality healthcare services via phone calls and videoconferencing. This is particularly beneficial for those based in regional and rural communities who don’t have easy access to these services. With increasing cases of COVID-19 in Australia, telehealth will allow patients who are in isolation receive faster access to healthcare treatment and advice without leaving the house.
What types of telehealth are there?
Telehealth systems are constantly expanding and evolving as technologies grow.
- Store and forward allows healthcare providers to store and share patient data in a secure facility
- Real-time interactive links between technologies like video conferencing is an effectively way to facilitate immediate doctor-patient interaction and diagnosis
- Remote monitoring is another method that allows GPs to track the activities of an individual, which is particularly useful for elderly patients and those suffering from chronic illnesses that require constant care.
How telehealth can help patients during this global health emergency?
There are a number of ways telehealth can effectively help educate and treat patients with COVID-19.
- Easy access to medical advice and information: Patients want to be able to access medical advice and information easily, especially if they are in isolation. Telehealth can provide updates on the latest COVID-19 news and advice through mediums such as telephone, videoconferencing, fax, emails and computers, virtual reality and tele-robotics.
- GPs can reach more people: Having patients contact GPs through a telehealth provider, reduces the risk of spreading the virus at a public practice. Storing patient files and information on the telehealth service will also give GPs the opportunity to compare symptoms and obtain data on the number of cases and their severity easily.
- On-going benefits for the entire healthcare system: with the number of COVID-19 cases rapidly increasing, telehealth can help reduce admissions to hospitals and encourage people to isolate themselves in their own home.