Numerous hospitals and general practitioners moved to telemedicine during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize exposure to ill patients and reduce patient demand on facilities. Triage and consultations were carried out remotely through the use of technology such as videoconferencing, mobile apps, or instant messaging.
Over the past year, we’ve seen telemedicine practiced in various methods:
1. Synchronous – This happens when there is real-time interaction between the patient and the healthcare personnel through telephone or live audio-video feature using a smartphone, a computer, or a tablet.
2. Asynchronous – This applies to instances where messages, images, or data are sent at one point and addressed at a later time. There are platforms that allow this communication to happen via secure messaging.
3. Remote monitoring – This happens when a patient’s measurements are taken from a distance, whether real time or not, and then transmitted to the healthcare provider.
The move from in-person consults to online certainly did not happen seamlessly. Before COVID-19, eight of ten GP consultations in the UK were carried out face to face. When the pandemic hit, this number went down to 8 percent. The National Health Service has also been on the receiving end of numerous complaints from patients who were getting the runaround and unable to see a physician despite numerous tries.
Even with a rising number of the population already being vaccinated, it will take some time before things will fully go back to normal. Telemedicine will continue to be the default, if not the preferred mode of healthcare service for many. It will take a while for people to warm up to the idea of getting treatment without seeing a physician in person, but there are many ways to help increase the uptake of telehealth:
1. Optimize the use of telehealth by using a framework to determine when it is appropriate to deliver in-person care.
2. Discuss with insurers to clarify the coverage of telehealth or telemedicine services.
3. Set up a triage system (whether by telephone or online) that will process patients’ needs and refer them to the right department, facility or practitioner. This will cut down on the volume of people coming to hospitals and clinics in person and lessen COVID-19 transmission.
4. Offer various ways of doing telemedicine, keeping in mind that some patients may have limited connectivity or access to technology. Also consider patients’ sensitivities and offer video and non-video options.
There are still kinks that need to be ironed out in the system, and numerous considerations, including privacy and security and insurance coverage, that have come up as we figure out this whole new world of telemedicine. But telemedicine will certainly be here to stay, and we need to be prepared for it.
Photo by Irwin Iwe on Unsplash
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