Telemedicine handles all health-related services and information via telecommunication technologies like phone calls, video chats, emails, and text messages. Telemedicine is a time-saving and very safe way to consult with the doctor while sitting home.
In India, there are some best telemedicine services like Practo, CallHealth, DocPrime, mFine, and Lybrate. All you need is a phone, strong internet, smartphone, or computer. You can also share your feedback with your doctor. It is mainly helpful if you:
- Live far from the clinic or live in the rural area
- Have limited movement, time, or transportation
- Need medical care while you are not able to go to any clinic
Benefits of telemedicine
- Less time away from work
- No travel expenses or time
- Less interference with the child or eldercare responsibilities
- Privacy.
- No exposure to other potentially contagious patients
- Telemedicine also helps in the maintenance of your records and documentation.
- Telemedicine is fruitful in case of differently abled patients.
- During this pandemic, it is a safe and an effective method.
- They pay more attention to your security of reports and other documents.
- It saves lives in emergencies, while there is no time to take the patient to the hospital.
- Considering the current scenario, many of us feel it is unsafe to be physically available at anyplace other than our homes. In such cases, telemedicine can be of good help, you can meet the doctors virtual and order the medicine through different apps.
Types of Telemedicine
Real-time Interactive Medicine
During a real-time telemedicine process, patients and providers use video conferencing software to see each other and hear. This method is used with those who are diagnosed with skin or any other visible diseases. It is famous for primary care, urgent care, follow-up visits, and the supervision of the reports, medication, and chronic illness.
Store-and-Forward
Asynchronous telemedicine is the second name of store-and-Forward. In this method, healthcare providers share patient medical information like lab reports, test and x-ray reports, imaging studies, videos, and other records with specialists, physicians, or radiologists of another place.
Remote Monitoring
Remote monitoring is also known as self-testing. It is quite an effective way to monitor the vital activities of patients and signs from a distance.
It is mostly used for those patients who have just arrived from the hospital, who are very much at risk or have heart disease.
Telemedicine during the covid-19 pandemic.
As we all know, 2021 is becoming worse than 2020. Doctors are getting compelled to save the lives of corona patients. Hospitals are becoming risky for everyone’s life. People are afraid of going to the hospital. Nothing is known about the lockdown.
Due to mandatory social distancing and the lack of effective treatments has made telemedicine, the safest communal system between patients, whether it is infected or uninfected, and clinicians.
Challenges faced by Telemedicine in India
Language Barrier
Language and communication barriers are the foremost challenges faced by Telemedicine. As the major population of our country is incompetent to understand English, they find it a better option to consult a doctor in person.
Lack of digital knowledge
As we all know, India is still far away from digital methods. Most Indian people don’t believe in the online system when it comes to paying money online. Although, we have witnessed a huge shift in the last few years.
Lack of government involvement
Lack of government involvement in supporting telemedicine has also become a challenge for telemedicine.
Distrust on new Doctors
In India, people do not easily trust new doctors. They like to maintain a thread with their prolonged family doctors, despite the incompetence of their doctor. They avoid seeking prescriptions from new doctors.
Lack of Technology
India still lags in technology. Most of our population is not technically sound enough to book online appointments and connect with doctors. Therefore, they seek other options.
Lack of internet connectivity
Mostly telemedicine applications require a high speed and strong Internet to work smoothly. Especially for real-time tele-consultations between doctors and patients, there is a need for credible and high-speed Internet availability. Internet coverage is still an obstruction in many developing countries, especially in the rural areas.
Lack of confidence
We Indians are mostly underconfident about the results of telemedicine prescribed. Therefore, we struggle to believe that machines can provide healthcare demands without visiting physicians face to face.