Telehealth is a new term to be indulged into the healthcare systems and it involves mixing technology with the help of doctors and scientists to make good use of it. Moreover, it was made up in order to help patients to relax more and worry no more about going to clinics or hospitals for instant advice.
What is Telehealth and usage examples?
Telehealth is the use of digital information and communication technologies, such as computers and mobile devices, to remotely access medical services and manage your medical services. Moreover, these may be technologies you use at home, or they may be used by doctors to improve or support medical services.
Therefore, examples may vary as there are various usages of these technologies when it comes to health care.
Some of these usages include:
- Getting email, text or phone reminders when you need a flu shot, foot exam or other preventive care.
- Using an online patient portal to see your test results, schedule appointments, request prescriptions refills or email your doctor.
- Ordering testing supplies and medications online.
- Getting a mobile retinal photoscreening at your doctor's office rather than scheduling an appointment with a specialist.
- Using a mobile phone or other device to upload food logs, medications, dosing and blood sugar levels for review by a nurse who responds electronically.
- Watching a video on carbohydrate counting and download an app for it to your phone.
- Using an app to estimate, based on your diet and exercise level, how much insulin you need.
Online Patient Portals
Some clinics might have online patient portals in order to make it easy for patients to communicate with their doctors securely about their private medical information. Moreover, this undoubtedly is a huge step towards a better future for both patients and doctors.
These online portals might also let you do:
- Review test results and summaries of previous visits.
- Schedule appointments or request appointment reminders.
- Communicate with your doctor or a nurse.
- Request prescription refills.
However, some people might not love to have these services and prefer to go see the doctor or take prescriptions themselves. Other people ultimately see this as a way of making the process faster as they do not have to go and wait for long.
Therefore, it is better to make good use of these advanced technologies and hope that they will eventually make our lives better.