Europe's 10 Most Trusted Home Care Providers 2021

Update Required
The Health Resource Services
Administration defines Telehealth as
“the use of electronic information and
telecommunications technology to
support long-distance clinical health
care, patient and professional healthrelated
education and public health
administration.”
Videoconferencing, the internet, storeand-forward
imaging, streaming
media, and terrestrial and wireless
communications are all examples of
the technologies used in Telehealth.
There is usually confusion between the
terms Telehealth and Telemedicine,
though they are very similar to each
other. Mentioned below is the
difference between the two.
What is Telehealth?
Telehealth encompasses a wide range
of electronic and telecommunications
technology and systems that are used
to provide care and services over long
distances.
What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine is the practise of
medicine that uses technology to
provide treatment to patients who are
located far away. A
telecommunications system allows a
physician in one place to provide
treatment to a patient in another
location.
According to the data World Bank
accumulated from 2012, in India the
doctor to patient ratio is about 1 to
1,700. With the help of technological
advancements and telemedicine,
mobile and Internet technologies are
being viewed as a path towards solving
India's deficit of doctors.
According to venture capital database
CBinsights, worldwide digital health
start-ups received funding of $5.8
billion (roughly Rs. 39,241 crores), in
2015 and in the same year, three
companies after being valued at over a
billion dollars, were given a unicorn
status. The three companies were -
Guahao, a Chinese medical site;
Zocdoc, a US-based company; and
23andMe.
The data mentioned above shows us
the importance of Telehealth and how
India needs it in these challenging
times.
Here are five reasons why telehealth
solutions are the need of the hour:
It provides a superior service that
keeps and attracts patients.
Since it offers convenient after-hours
treatment choices and decreases wait
times, travel time, and costs associated
with receiving care at conventional
care settings, 97 percent of patients
consistently show high satisfaction
with telehealth experiences. With a
high level of satisfaction, giving
patients a better experience of the
entire process while developing a
better relationship with the healthcare
system.
This will in turn create a sense of
goodwill and patient loyalty to stick
with a doctor who they can see more
often through video calls. This may
also lead to bringing in new patients
from beyond the hospital or system's
immediate vicinity.
It lowers the number of people who
need to be admitted
A major cause of concern today is the
increasing rate of admissions as well as
readmissions. The cost of readmission
is quite high as well. By allowing
healthcare professionals to see patients
via video and diagnose them or for
follow-up care and care management,
telehealth contributes towards reducing
the admission rates by reducing the
need to be admitted in entirety.
The scope, width, and delivery of
medical professionals can all be
improved with the right system.
Most major health systems, have a
number of campuses and clinics, as
well as physicians and other allied
health professionals spread around
their locations or areas. Telehealth
allows hospitals to disperse personnel
and resources across the various
systems and have access to more
specialists. This leads to patients being
able to have access to immediate
treatment and diagnostics from the
respective physicians they need
without having to schedule an
appointment, wait or go through and
long-drawn coordination process.
More preventative outreach will help
systems save money
Hospital facilities must find new ways
to engage and treat chronically ill
patients as patients who have
arrangements of being covered under
alternative or value-based payment
methods are increasing by the say.
Therefore, hospitals need to work on
ways to manage these admissions by
segregating the prioritised cases from
the avoidable cases which arise due to
complications including diabetes,
dehydration, and heart disease. By
doing this, hospitals have been able to
cut down on costs.
A point to note would be that telehealth
facilities help hospitals monitor and
keep an update on patients on a regular
basis, ensuring the health of their
patients.
The opportunity to assist in the
improvement of health results.
Patients who take an active role in their
treatment will naturally have much
greater results. Telehealth is a valuable
tool for the patient adherence to
medication and post-discharge orders,
as well as connecting them with
clinicians and caregivers more easily.
Therefore, the opportunity to assist in
the improvement of health results
online is helping a lot of people in
India and around the world.
To conclude, telehealth has definitely
enhanced the day to day working of the
health industry all over the world. With
the current situation being so chaotic,
the need of the hour is more health care
professionals and resources, and
definitely more treatment and access to
medication. Telehealth has played a
vital role in performing all of these
functions amongst other things.
- Arran Calvert
39 | May 2021 | www.insightscare.com