(Newswire.net — August 10, 2020) —
A REVOLUTION IN GLOBAL HEALTH SECTOR
More than seven hundred thousand people perished from the world, in just a matter of months, since the time WHO declared Covid19 a global pandemic. More than 1.5 billion have been infected as you read this. And a vaccine is far from sight.
Result? Homes have become our safe nest, or self-imposed confinement zones. Whether we like it or not, this will be the new normal till safer times arrive through a vaccine. But what do we do till then, especially if we have some minor illness and we need a doctor? Because hospitals are becoming safe havens only for the Covid19 affected cases.
TELEMEDICINE is spearheading the change in these tough times.
WHAT IS TELEMEDICINE
Telemedicine means providing healthcare services to a patient from a remote location using technology. Say, even if you have tested positive for Covid19, but you are asymptomatic with no immediate troubles. Then your doctor will advise you to stay in home isolation and prescribe your medication over a video call.
As per the Smithsonian Magazine in 1925, the first major and serious portrayal of Telemedicine came from Hugo Gernsback. The magazine mentions a device called a ‘teledactyl’ which allowed doctors to see their patients through a view-screen. It even allowed doctors to touch the patients from miles away using a spindly robotic arm!
Frieda Srisuk, the CEO of Athene Telehealth, says, “Today fiction and fantasy have become fact and reality. Covid19 has just paved the way for Telemedicine to become a revolution at a huge scale. But the fact is that I myself have been helping my patients through it for more than 5 years now.”
As per their website: Athene Telehealth is a full-service telemedicine company. It is into sub-acute nursing and long term care facilities. Freida says they are into total solutions that include: training, technical support and access to board certified physicians, any time of the day whether evening, weekends, or even during holidays, to ensure access to 24/7 medical care. And Freida is the first Asian woman CEO in the US to be leading this industry, which is powered by Smartphones, Smartest Apps as well as Artificial Intelligence.
TELEMEDICINE – NECESSITY OF THE NEW WORLD
1. SAFETY – THE TOP PRIORITY
“We actually don’t need to explain much about this now in the Covid19 times,” asserts Freida who adds that the medical world is fast shifting to Telemedicine as per demand of the patients, due to rising fear and necessity of social distancing. Her claim is well backed by the fact that as per the Deloitte 2018 Survey of US Physicians, only 2 in 10 doctors had made up their minds to provide health services via Telemedicine. But now with the WHO warning that Covid19 may never go away from the global population, 60% of patients are interested in utilising telemedicine. So healthcare providers are quickly adapting to it.
2. COST EFFECTIVE, LESS TIME CONSUMING
Other fellow doctors in the same industry also assert that this system is less time consuming, highly cost-effective and the doctor can help more than double the number of patients daily. Thereby reducing the burden on the healthcare system leading to better satisfaction. For example, why should a patient toil all the way, drive an hour to meet the doctor, wait for hours sitting in a queue and get tired? Simply take an online appointment, and switch on to the doctor at the scheduled time. “Isn’t that so simple, for that matter if that patient is your aged parent?” Asks a smiling Freida. And we are forced to think in the right direction.
3. BETTER QUALITY OF COMPLICATED HEALTHCARE
Right from the follow-up with patients to monitoring them remotely to even responding to the queries of even the patient’s attendant….everything is at the tip of your finger. Not just this Freida claims, “Athene Telehealth physicians treat even complex medical cases via Telemedicine, such as: Congestive Heart Failure, Urinary Tract Infections, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder, Sepsis, chest pain, falls and changes in mental status.”
She exemplifies with a simple scenario, “In some specialties, particularly in mental health and ICU care, telemedicine provides excellent and immediate help. What if a doctor is at home and a related patient has some issues in the ICU? Hospital just gets him on a video call explaining the condition and immediate action is taken to save life, even before he can drive and reach the hospital.”
4. ACCESS TO SPECIALISTS ACROSS THE GLOBE
Only two medical experts for a certain rare ailment in the world? No, this is no longer a Hollywood situation or a hypothetical scenario anymore. But now the patient or the doctor may not be needed to fly to the country. Many times such issues are resolved sitting remotely via Telemedicine. Time effective cost-effective access to the doctor that you deserve! “At Athene Telehealth high quality video conferencing, a powerful stethoscope and high-resolution zoom lens is available via our Telemedicine Cart. And thus we are able to hear heart murmurs, crackles in the lungs and view any part of the patient’s body,”informs Freida who also claims that this gives her organisation an edge above the others.
5. TIMELY CARE, WITHOUT DELAY
Many times we neglect our health due to workload or not being able to take off from work, for an appointment. Telemedicine is a boon to such people. Take 15 minutes out in the day for Tele-medical Care, get treated, stay healthy.
THE FINAL WORD
A TeleMedic once told me, that the only drawback in telemedicine is lack of awareness among the global masses, but now in Covid19 times, people are getting more and more aware of it. Perhaps a boon in disguise? Maybe. So what next then? Where does Frieda see herself and fellow TELEMEDICS in this tech-powered network?
Frieda sums up, “For the immediate future, my goal is to provide more awareness for the general public, especially the geriatric population with regards to Telemedicine and its benefits. Awareness means familiarity and faster adaptation. But then,I also want to ensure that non-contact physician visits do not become known as just a temporary solution during this global emergency, but rather leave a long-lasting impression that everyone will accept as the new standard of care. As people continue to learn more about the true definition of Telemedicine, the long term vision of Athene Telehealth as a Telemedicine provider becomes more tangible. My hopes of being able to positively impact our community, state, residents, and nursing home facilities while providing the highest quality of care is our top priority and ultimate goal.”
Summing up, though none of the telemedicine experts that we spoke to have denied the fact that cybersecurity and data breach does remain a concern. But then they assert that countries are moving towards better technology laws and cybersecurity systems. And thus TELEMEDICINE will be very soon the strongest pillar of HEALTHCARE.