By: Maya Adam
Can you imagine a new era of healthcare that's online? Well, that's exactly what's happening with the rise of virtual care and telemedicine. Virtual care is a new way health systems and hospitals can change how patients receive care. Rather than in-person checkups, patients can meet with their doctors with simply a webcam and the internet. Previously telemedicine was barely used and understudied, but after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there was a rapid increase in telemedicine. Telemedicine has proven to have a plethora of benefits.
Telemedicine can be just as useful as in-person care, especially for people with chronic conditions. This is because, for individuals with chronic conditions, doctor visits often mean prescription refills and dosage adjustments, which can be easily handled online. For people who live in rural areas, or who live far away from their primary care physician, in-person visits can often be taxing, where patients have to travel long distances. With telemedicine, patients can have access to their doctors in mere seconds. A lot of the time telemedicine appointments can be a lot easier to get than in person and allow for schedule flexibility. Types of care used for medicine are broad and are constantly expanding. Some examples are managing prescriptions, physical therapy, mental health, and monitoring blood pressure. This is because virtual care allows patients to send vital information to their doctors, such as their symptoms, photos of their conditions, and their medical records, so doctors can assess what a patient may need. Through virtual care, doctors can make reports to patients on what exercises/medications they need and what to change in terms of their diet and stress management. Telemedicine helps improve access to doctors, especially with shortages of healthcare providers. It has even improved the quality of healthcare and allowed doctors to truly engage with their patients. People don't always realize that often hospital waiting rooms can spread infectious illness, and telemedicine helps avoid this unnecessary risk. It's much better if patients who suspect they are infectious stay at home and receive care virtually to reduce the spread of germs.
Although there are many pros to telemedicine, there are some troubling issues. An in-person visit can help when diagnosing an illness. Physicians are only able to do so much through a screen; touch can sometimes be crucial to a diagnosis. Technical issues are also a concern through telemedicine; having a bad connection can lead someone to miss their appointment or cut it short. As well as for many lower-income people, video calling may not be possible. For emergency care, an in-person visit is much more effective and even accessible than a virtual call. Medical algorithms and chatbots are still developing and aren't always 100% accurate with telemedicine; there is a risk of inconsistency. There is also an issue with cybersecurity and data breaches, because these calls are often talking about private information, and there is a concern about violating HIPAA laws.
Although people may argue about the pros and cons of telemedicine, it's clear we will continue to see an increase in interest in this field and development in the future.
Works Cited
Bonvissuto, Danny, and Shawna Seed. “Telehealth (Telemedicine): How Does It Work?” WebMD, 24 Dec. 2022, www.webmd.com/covid/how-does-telemedicine-work.
Shaver, Julia. “The State of Telehealth before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, vol. 49, no. 4, 25 Apr. 2022, pp. 517–530, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pop.2022.04.002.
Siwicki, Bill. “How Virtual-First Can Improve Outcomes and Make Care More Affordable.” Healthcare IT News, 12 Nov. 2024, www.healthcareitnews.com/news/how-virtual-first-can-improve-outcomes-and-make-care-more-affordable.
Thomas, Liji. “What Is Telemedicine?” News-Medical.net, 18 Jan. 2023, www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Telemedicine.aspx.
ZaggoCare. “The Pros and Cons of Telemedicine.” ZaggoCare, 30 Mar. 2020, zaggocare.org/pros-cons-telemedicine/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ernst-media-cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAj9m7BhD1ARIsANsIIvAJ1cXrKTLns-Nczycplb2ADLfK0ZllWLT69QCq7nKD05uZMsaBLJMaAvD9EALw_wcB. Accessed 2 Jan. 2025. Assessed and Endorsed by the MedReport Medical Review Board