Offering remote services is more and more important for businesses everywhere, and doctors are no exception. For doctors who strive to provide the highest quality of healthcare to their patients, telehealth services are a perfect way to elevate a practice. Offering telehealth options to patients not only improves the quality of care patients receive, but also improves office efficiency and reduces the strain on other medical services.
How is Telehealth Used in Healthcare?
How telehealth is used in healthcare can range from providing round-the-clock medical services to offering health education services. However, in essence, telehealth is used to connect patients and doctors virtually. Doctors can provide care and messaging to patients through different telehealth services such as HIPAA compliant video conferencing or messaging via a mobile app that is specific to a practice. While telehealth can’t completely replace in-person appointments, the technology is useful in helping patients manage chronic and acute conditions.
Continuity of Care
Telehealth services are proven to help doctors provide continuous, ongoing care. When health concerns go unaddressed for a long period of time, minor ailments can become very serious. When care is convenient, problems can be identified earlier and serious complications can be averted.
The most common reasons patients don’t seek care can be boiled down to a few challenges, such as distance, time, finances, or a combination of all three. Telehealth services allow doctors to connect and monitor a patient’s condition virtually, alleviating some of these stresses from patients. Doctors can quickly adjust treatments, maintain accurate medical records, and improve overall health outcomes for patients. Continuity of care also improves the doctor-patient relationship by building familiarity and trust. When doctors are in tune with their patients’ lives, they are better able to suggest effective treatments that align with a patient’s schedule and lifestyle.
Telehealth Empowers Healthcare By Making Flexible Scheduling Easier
When work or school schedules require patients to make last-minute appointment changes, telehealth options such as a mobile app allows patients to quickly notify a practice and make alternate arrangements. Often, patients may find it inconvenient to visit or even contact their healthcare provider in between their workday. Telehealth services can enable these patients to schedule their early morning, late evening, or weekend appointments without needing to call the practice.
Flexible scheduling benefits doctors and their offices, as well. By offering telehealth options, offices can be run more efficiently. Rather than trying to manage the stress of accommodating walk-in patients between regularly scheduled appointments, doctors can evaluate a patient’s symptoms remotely and decide if an in-person evaluation is needed.
Telehealth Provides a Patient-Centered Home
One of the most useful examples of how telehealth is used in healthcare is in understanding that telehealth services reduce the use of urgent care and emergency rooms. It can do this by giving patients access to their provider after hours. Primary care doctors have access to all of a patient’s medical records and therefore are in the best position to diagnose and suggest treatment options that will work best for an individual. Urgent care and emergency rooms do not have access to these extensive medical records and may make treatment or prescription suggestions that conflict with a patient’s care.
We often try to answer the question of
how telehealth is used in healthcare by addressing the relationship between doctors and patients, but the relationship between different medical services is just as important. By offering telehealth services, doctors can provide and transfer medical records so that patients have access to important medical information when they need it.
Telehealth Service Options
With the sheer number of telehealth services available to doctors, connecting to patients has never been easier. Doctors who practice in remote areas can offer video conferencing services. Pediatricians caring for young adults leaving home for college will find great value in offering a mobile app. With Covid-19 still posing a danger to many communities, accessing healthcare remotely will be a priority for all providers and their patients for the foreseeable future.
Doctors can choose a telehealth service provider that they believe will enhance the care their practice provides. Offering telehealth services is a signal to patients that their doctor is committed to their healthcare, and will go a long way to promote the doctor-patient relationship. When doctors and patients are working together to achieve a health goal, the odds of success are greatly improved.
Whether a patient needs help managing a chronic condition or simply wants to access their medical record, telehealth services are a convenient choice.
If you are a healthcare provider who understands the potential of virtual service and is aware of
how telehealth is used in healthcare, you know that it’s about improving the quality of care doctors can provide to their patients. Use telehealth services to streamline your practice and ensure your patients have access to seamless, attentive care.