Advantages of Telemedicine Application

Though it has been advocated by WHO that to maintain a certain standard in healthcare a country should have 1 doctor per 1000 population, 45% of the member states of WHO have less than 1 physician per 1000 citizen (source: GHO). Even the standard density of doctors is not enough in the event of a global health emergency, and many countries have experienced it during the recent pandemic induced by Covid-19. Telemedicine, which has been playing a valuable part in the healthcare industry for a long period, has proved its potential of becoming an integral part of the healthcare system in the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Why Telemedicine is the Future?

Telemedicine has been playing a valuable part in the healthcare industry but the recent pandemic has revealed its potential of becoming an integral part of the healthcare system. From education to banking, from tourism to shopping many aspects of our lives have been transformed drastically in the past two decades by the influence of technology, and now it’s time for healthcare to embrace the modern touch of technology to be more functional for future times. There has always been a question related to the effectiveness of telehealth; however, the ongoing health crisis has proved quite the opposite that it should be encompassed to augment the overall efficiency of healthcare. And in such adverse situations where people are advised to avoid gatherings and public places, telemedicine is the only way to continue regular check-up for patients. According to the American Medical Association, ‘70% of non-life-threatening conditions could be resolved by speaking to a doctor over the phone’.   

By pairing with the inventive communication and information technology, nowadays telemedicine has become able to offer more utility than previous times. It is not limited to audio communication anymore; the latest video telephony technology has made it possible for patients to have video consultations with doctors. Furthermore, the availability of smart devices has opened up the possibility of using mobile applications for running telemedicine services. Apart from providing near to real-life consultation experience, telemedicine applications are also coming up with numerous conveniences which are making it indispensable in future healthcare.

Advantages of Telemedicine Application

Reduced Healthcare Cost

By introducing telemedicine services traditional healthcare providers can easily utilize their capacity to the fullest. The revenue generated from this typically unutilized capacity can assist the providers in reducing their overall system costs. Besides, telemedicine also lets the providers reduce their overhead cost by letting a number of doctors to work from home. Making revenue from wasted capacity enables providers to offer distant online consultation at a lower rate than usual and eventually allows patients to avail healthcare services in low-cost. Moreover, telemedicine helps patients to avoid major health crises and related expenditure.

Minimal Trouble to Get Consultancy

People can take medical consultation from their home through telemedicine services. Telemedicine has lessened the hassle for patients as they need to travel less for their follow-ups or regular check-ups. Telemedicine also plays a role in decreasing unnecessary emergency room visits as patients can quickly check their minor health issues with doctors from wherever they are.  Elderly patients or who have trouble in making time from work for in-person visits can get consultation virtually. 

Medical Report Archiving in EHR

Compact telehealth application allows patients to upload their digital copy of medical reports and save personal medical history and information.  This eliminates the chances of patients losing their important medical information as paper-based reports possess a higher probability of being misplaced. Electronic Health Records (EHR) can be easily shared with the doctors over various networks, and this helps patients to get quality healthcare in an emergency situation as doctors do not need to guess medical histories.   

Increased Accessibility and Convenience

Telemedicine has made healthcare more accessible to people. People living in remote areas face challenges in getting proper healthcare as in many countries advanced healthcare facilities and specialists doctors are condensed in the big cities, and they have to travel a long distance to get specialists’ advice even in emergencies. Telemedicine application has simplified the lives of people living in rural areas as they can have consultations with specialist doctors with a single tap in emergencies.  Furthermore, in situations where people are advised not to go outside e.g., riot or political unrest and pandemics; telemedicine is the only way out for people to get consultations. Aside from accessibility, Integrated e-prescription and medicine reminder features of telemedicine application make it more convenient for patients especially elderly ones to follow medical advice properly.  

Assistance of AI

Incorporation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can considerably improve the quality of telemedicine solutions. AI streamlines it for patients to get quality healthcare through telemedicine by helping them in finding relevant specialists according to their health conditions. On the other hand, Machine learning algorithms also assist the doctors in the consultation process by examining the data of a patient’s electronic health records and medical profile and giving useful recommendations about the patient.  

Due to COVID-19 telemedicine services have seen massive growth and popularity recently. Wider usage of telemedicine services has also made people and healthcare organizations realize the substantial benefits of this model of digital healthcare. Presently, the telehealth market is valued more than 45 billion and it is expected to have a 19.3% CAGR in the upcoming five years (Source: Global Market Insights).

This is prime time for healthcare providers to launch telemedicine services or update their existing ones to provide in-demand features to patients.

How to Launch a Telemedicine Application?

The thought of developing the application from scratch might be tempting but there is a high probability of facing unexpected hindrances in the development process as healthcare organizations are not habituated with software development. There is an easy way for a healthcare company to launch a telehealth application.

• First, they need to make a list of the features they want to have in the application to extend the reach and improve the quality of their healthcare service.
• Then they need to contact an experienced telemedicine solution provider like Ducomm Health to have their application market-ready within a short time.

Ducomm Health is a dynamic and comprehensive telehealth solution which has incorporated the most valuable and modern features of telemedicine like E-prescription, EHR and Medicine Reminder. Customizable Advice Template, Drug Directory, Provision of writing prescription during Video Consultation – these options of Ducomm Health are making the telehealth process effortless for doctors as well. Furthermore, white-label branding, availability on multiple platforms e.g., Android, iOS and Web, low bandwidth consumption, secure server, online payment integration and health package creation – all these aspects will certainly enable a healthcare provider to offer a robust and ahead of the curve telemedicine solution to its patients.