Advances in technology are changing the way we live our lives and conduct business, including how patients and doctors can interact.
Factors like the rising costs of healthcare and a growing gap in available physicians has left a lot of patients unwilling or unable to receive the consultation and care they need. Telehealth solutions have opened up new opportunities for patients and healthcare providers to communicate, share information, and maintain privacy and security.
The benefits of emerging technologies such as electronic medical records implementation are already improving healthcare practices, and options in telemedicine are equally promising. The question for many healthcare providers, then, is how to become a telehealth physician. Even though telehealth has been around for almost 20 years, the technology used to see patients is new so has not been in the forefront of health care until recently. There are steps physicians and hospitals can take to add telehealth to their business. Here are a few factors to consider.
Become Familiar with Applicable Technologies
There’s more to telehealth than simply downloading video conferencing software. Physicians and hospitals looking to implement telehealth solutions for the good of their business and the benefit of patients will need to take time to thoroughly research the options available.
Telehealth can include not only remote consultation and diagnosis options, but also the use of medical monitoring systems which allow for remote treatment. These options can be especially helpful for patients with mobility issues or chronic conditions, or who live in remote areas.
Understand the Patient Population
Telehealth has great potential to save both time and money. Telehealth physicians can see more patients, their patients need not take on undue burdens associated with travel or transport to “see” their physicians, and costs can be reduced all around in cases where in-office visits really aren’t necessary.
However, physicians need to understand their patient population to know if the initial and ongoing expenses of telehealth are suitable for their practice. In many cases, the benefits to both doctors and patients will outweigh any potential drawbacks.