What Is Telemedicine, and how Is It Helpful?
With rapid digitisation across all spheres of modern living, carrying about day to day tasks has been simplified to quite an extent. The medical field has also adopted the integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to address global health problems and subsequently boost the access, quality, equity and affordability of healthcare services.
Telemedicine refers to the use of ICT to deliver medical services and propagate the availability of quality healthcare at home. Following is a look at what telemedicine entails and the benefits it imparts to the general populace.
What does telemedicine entail?
While the term ‘telemedicine’ was coined in 1970, its potential has only been bolstered in the last decade with the internet becoming readily available to all. Lexically, telemedicine translates to healing from a distance; it refers to healthcare professionals delivering medical facilities through ICT to those medical instances where distance becomes a critical factor.
Typically, four factors are pertinent to telemedicine. These are –
- Providing clinical support to those in need.
- Integrating the use of ICT.
- Improving health outcomes.
- Overcoming geographical barriers and connecting those who are not necessarily in the same locations.
Apart from these factors, telemedicine is also critical for providing healthcare at home.
Benefits of telemedicine –
Given that the usage of telemedicine has been acknowledged as a viable method for medical consultation, individuals must learn about the benefits it offers. These are as follows –
- Increased affordability
Since telemedicine eliminates the need of patients visiting clinics or hospitals for consultations; it helps save on the transportation charges, for one.
- Boosted accessibility
As mentioned earlier, this facility does away with the need for a patient and his/her healthcare professional to be physically present in the same location for a consultation. This has made it possible for individuals who are unfit for travel, or are restricted by monetary constraints, or are living in remote areas, to seek competent healthcare without any hassle.
- Improved quality of healthcare services
As per studies, telemedicine has contributed to the betterment of healthcare quality and reduced readmission rates. Through online consultation, healthcare providers can follow up with patients in real time without the need for traditional visits while patients can consult with their doctors whenever required.
- Helps avail a second opinion
Telemedicine facilitates patients, as well as doctors, to seek a second opinion about a particular case. One simply needs to make a video call to consult another doctor or specialist to make a sound decision regarding diagnosis, treatment procedures or medications prescribed.
- Convenient
With telemedicine, individuals can opt for healthcare at home, thus boosting the convenience of availing medical services. With this facility, one can do away with the hassles of travelling to the hospital or clinic, waiting for long hours to see the doctor, missing appointments, etc.
These are the five ways telemedicine has changed the course of how healthcare services are provided and availed by individuals.
How can individuals avail the benefits of telemedicine?
In recent times, financial institutions providing financial assistance for healthcare across India have introduced various apps through which individuals can avail the benefits of telemedicine. For instance, the Bajaj Finserv HealthRx app is one such mobile application that offers users the convenience of consulting doctors through video calls from the comfort of their homes.
It is also noteworthy that under current circumstances, the facility to avail healthcare at home via telemedicine can be particularly beneficial since it minimises the need for individuals to step out of their houses.
Furthermore, when it comes to availing convenient healthcare services, individuals should also learn about EMI health cards that allow them to boost the affordability of availing medical care.
With these cards, one can convert the medical bills generated for self and family into instalments to be paid over a period of 24 months. For instance, the Bajaj Finserv Digital Health EMI Network Card offers users the benefit of paying for healthcare in No-Cost EMIs for over 800 medical and auxiliary services in 5,500+ facilities across 1,000+ Indian cities.
Individuals who are existing customers of the NBFC can avail health card download facilities from the institution’s official app to avail financing immediately after approval. Also, they only need to pay a nominal, one-time charge of Rs.707 to avail the card.
Thus, with the introduction of tools like the health card and HealthRx app, availing quality healthcare at home has been streamlined to quite an extent.
How to start using the HealthRx app?
To enjoy the benefits of telemedicine through the HealthRx app, individuals first need to install it to their smartphone. To do so, one can download it to their Android phone or iPhone from Google PlayStore or Apple App Store, respectively.
After the download is complete, enter your contact number and verify it through the OTP generated. Next, enter details like your name, gender and age to start using the app after logging in successfully.
Once logged in, you can avail telemedicine and a plethora of other services for healthcare at home through the app without any hassle.