5 Major Benefits of Telemedicine

One of the best things about technology is that it’s constantly evolving. For instance, before the early 1990s, there was no such thing as the World Wide Web and until the turn of the century, we would never think that we could basically do the same things on our cellphones that we can do on our laptops.

In fact, technology is so widespread that it affects every industry, including healthcare. And so, over the next couple of minutes, we are going to share with you five of the major benefits that come with what is known as telemedicine—a way to both diagnose as well as treat patients who may live in a rural area and cannot easily get to a doctor’s office or hospital.

Check these major benefits out below:

Telemedicine provides greater access to healthcare. If you are someone who happens to live in a small community or a rural area, then telemedicine can benefit you greatly. That’s because it can make it easier to obtain various types of specialty services so that you do not have to travel long distances in order to get the kind of healthcare that you need.

Telemedicine helps to improve the outcome of people’s health. There are a lot of people who end up having serious health problems simply because their issue was not diagnosed early enough. However, there are many reports to support the fact that telemedicine increases the chances of receiving an early diagnosis. This not only leads to less expensive methods of treatment, but better long-term health outcomes as well.

Telemedicine will reduce healthcare costs. The third benefit that comes from telemedicine basically ties into the one that we just mentioned. When people remain sick, this means that they have to visit the doctor more, they have to spend more money on medication and treatment, they also usually spend more on healthcare and they sometimes have to stay in the hospital too. What all of this does is cause their healthcare costs to increase, sometimes resulting in thousands and thousands of dollars being spent. However, being that telemedicine is a proactive approach to healthcare, it oftentimes significantly reduces healthcare costs.

Telemedicine is an effective form of education. Say that you decide to use a telehealth provider such as MDLIVE. Thanks to online mediums like video conferencing, pre-recorded videos, clips and photos, you can receive updated information on your diagnosis, forms of treatment and even alternatives 24-hours per day via the internet. Plus, if you happen to need things like X-rays and tests results, oftentimes you can receive them online as well.

Telemedicine addresses the shortage of healthcare providers. There are a lot of people who are not able to get the kind of timely healthcare assistance that they need; not because they lack the funds to afford it, but due to the fact that there are shortages of healthcare providers in their area. However, thanks to telemedicine, this is no longer that much of an issue. That’s because it connects providers to people all over the world, including in remote and underserved areas. For more information on telemedicine, visit the American Telemedicine Association at AmericanTeleMed.org.