Telehealth to Gain Stride in the Remote Healthcare Space

Three Upcoming Trends One Should Keep an Eye On

• Awareness About Telehealth

Everyone says that telehealth has transformed the remote healthcare sector or has stirred a revolution in the healthcare industry. But has it really been able to achieve the success it should have? There is still some percentage of the population who want to physically visit a doctor and get treated. Moreover, there are people who don’t even know or have zero knowledge of telehealth. So, telehealth can only transform the remote healthcare space when the majority of people around the world are aware of this remote medicine. Government is actively supporting this service by implementing awareness policies and granting funds so as to make it more accessible and affordable to all. The Dubai Health Authority or DHA adopted 7 main components of telehealth services in September 2019. Some of these include online consultations, usage of e-medical files to see patient’s history, medicine prescription vis telemedicine, and others. Another institution called the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth or OAT actively promotes telehealth services in remote areas through programs such as Telehealth Network Grant Program or TNGP, Telehealth Resource Center Program or TRC, and others.

• Why Travel When You Can Chat with Your Doctor?

Talking about advanced technologies in healthcare, robotics, artificial intelligence, and automation have gained considerable popularity in telehealth services. Getting information in real-time has proven very useful for patients, care providers, and insurance companies. Now, patients can chat in real-time with the introduction of online interactive portals. This brings our attention to a telemedicine app called MDBox which connects doctors and patients through a video chat. Researchers say that investing time in video chat is equivalent to a single doctor’s visit. This app can diagnose the patient’s condition via video chat and prescribe a treatment plan accordingly. Another latest development in telehealth is the introduction of a mental health application called Woebot. The app was originally developed at Stanford and offers talk therapy to patients with mental health problems using cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT. Telehealth has enormously healed people who need urgent care and are situated at geographically remote places.

• Millennials to be More Associated with Telehealth

According to the American Medical Association (AMA), from 2014 to 2018 patients aged between 31 and 40 years were primarily adopting telehealth services. Millennials are slowing coming to understand the benefits of telehealth and their appetite for physical consultation is shifting towards virtual care. Considering this, healthcare organizations are planning to train their physicians for telemedicine to provide these services. Owing to the rapidly changing lifestyle, millennials want fast and affordable services which they can easily get by the touch of their fingertips by adopting telehealth apps. A recent research study states that the demand for teletherapy is on the rise as employees are experiencing ‘workplace stress’. The WHO has named this chronic stress as “Burnout” which can affect the employee’s productivity and overall performance. Hence, such patients prefer teletherapy which is an online counselling tool. Patinmest can chat with their doctors through different channels such as email, phone, and video. Adoption of this therapy is helping employees to cope up in the organization.

Telehealth is Emerging, but will it Make Progress in the Future?

The digital health industry has come a long way and has started to deliver services effectively after years of practice. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automation won’t replace the doctor but will act as an assistant for the diagnosis and treatment. Humans still play a crucial role when it comes in terms of taking decisions. AI can help us in reading the enormous data from wearable or patient monitoring devices, but at the end it is a doctor who suggests us what to do next. Machine learning is good, but respect, empathy, and care can only be expected from doctors. Technology has emerged and telehealth is paving its way into the lives of patients as people love quality and convenience. Telehealth is slowly becoming the doorway to the healthcare needs of people and is likely to make enormous progress in the future.