COVID-19 and the rise of Telemedicine

Telemedicine has not had the success story it had hoped to achieve. The method, involving remote health-related services such as monitoring, advice and education between doctors and patients online over a secure connection, promised to be at the forefront of the future of medicine. It promised to make state-of-the-art healthcare more accessible without the need to wait hours in line.  However, the reality is that only a handful of countries and regions adopted the concept, but telemedicine remains merely a concept for many. In fact, a study showed that in the U.S. alone, 82 percent of consumers do not use such services. This sad reality can be attributed to the lack of improper infrastructure to support it and to the lack of awareness. Another factor is that cultural aspects haven’t been taken into consideration, like it’s usually the case in digital health.  Moreover, some even question its reliability and effectiveness. Put to blame is the very quality of these services. A study with researchers posing as patients found that remote doctors across 16 different telemedicine apps misdiagnosed serious skin conditions. What’s concerning is that some doctors operating through these services didn’t even have a license to practice in their patients’ regions. Such issues even led to reimbursement questions. But then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. This ongoing global crisis forced healthcare institutions and regulatory bodies to turn to al...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Future of Medicine Healthcare Design Telemedicine & Smartphones digital health technology telehealth covid covid19 Source Type: blogs