Telemedicine Apps: Here Is How Technology Is Shaping up the Future of the Healthcare Industry

Social isolation was one of the worst challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. To most people, the thought of staying isolated for 14 days sent shivers down the spine. Many can relate to the situation wherein they would just send the temperature chart and lab reports to the doctor over e-mail or WhatsApp, and the doctor would then prescribe medicines over a call or chat. Well, knowingly or unknowingly, the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has boosted the growth of the telemedicine sector in India and across the world. There are multiple telemedicine apps for healthcare that are helping patients keep healthy without the need to see the doctor physically.

What Is Telemedicine? 

Telemedicine is widely known as e-health. It simply means the exchange of information with your doctor or healthcare provider through electronic or telecommunication means. It enables patients to continue their medical treatment without meeting the doctor. Especially in infectious diseases like Covid-19, it helps patients get timely and effective medical treatment without moving out of the house. It is also beneficial for old and weak patients who are living alone. All thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), patients living in remote locations have been able to obtain good quality medical services through telemedicine.

 Benefits: 

• Enables patients to connect with the doctor over phone or video chat
• Enables exchange of information through chat or email messages
• Helps doctors monitor their patients remotely
• Saves transportation costs and travel time
• Eliminates waiting periods
• Reduces the number of visits to the clinic
• Beneficial for patients who seek second opinions for diagnoses

 Challenges:

1. Resistance to change: It takes time to change the mindset. Getting physically checked by the doctors and personally talking to them about the problems instil confidence in the patients. In telemedicine, the patient finds it difficult to form a bond with the healthcare expert.
2. Teething troubles: Implementing a telemedicine model is a painstaking task initially. It requires redefining roles and responsibilities. Also, it needs technologically superior infrastructure which might come with high costs.
3. Skilled manpower: Telemedicine requires skilled manpower for managing the technology and IT infrastructure. Healthcare organizations can implement it only with the support of an experienced IoT partner.

This is just not enough. Since telemedicine is at the nascent stage of development, it will take time to understand the incipient market needs. In short, implementing telemedicine solutions is not a one-time activity, it is an iterative process. Technology for telemedicine is evolving rapidly, but it can be widely accepted in the market if it is easily available, user-friendly, dynamic, and smoothly integrated with the existing healthcare infrastructure. Fortunately, telemedicine apps have made this easier.

There are two types of telemedicine apps- Synchronous and Asynchronous. 

1. Synchronous Telemedicine App:

Known as an interactive telemedicine system, this enables doctors and patients to connect with each other in real-time through telecommunications. The apps come with a live conferencing feature that helps doctors to understand patients’ symptoms more effectively. It almost replicates actual doctor visits, providing the patients higher level of satisfaction.

2. Asynchronous Telemedicine App: 

These apps enable healthcare providers to analyze the patient’s present condition by providing medical images and records. If the patient is not capable of sharing the data, it can be done by the primary care provider as well. However, these apps do not focus on facilitating consultation between both parties like synchronous apps.

A robust telemedicine app must have the following features. 

For patients:

• Hassle-free registration
• Medical profile of the patient
• Search assistance to find the right doctor
• Communication tool (audio, chat, video conference)
• Digital payment facility
• Notifications for appointments
• Review and ratings to help patients choose the right physician
• Facility to make emergency calls
• Tool to upload insurance details

For healthcare providers:

• Doctor’s profile
• Calendar to manage schedules
• Tool to track patient’s health and progress
• Tools to manage prescription
• Tools to check the real-time status of treatments
• Cloud storage
• Facility to record video/audio sessions
• Real-time stock details of medicines

Wearables and mobile health apps are gradually transforming the health industry by collecting vital health data of the users. This data is going to play a pivotal role when telemedicine becomes mainstream. Looking at the increasing popularity of wearables and health apps, the day is not too far.