At a time, when the healthcare system is struggling to meet the surge in demand due to COVID-19 commonly known as corona virus, telemedicine is like a boon to the healthcare industry. In this pandemic, when self-isolation and social distancing are normal, it not only provides rapid access to the sub-specialist who aren’t easily available in person but also protects patients, physicians and the community from exposure.
“It is in fact, a 21st-century approach to fight pandemic like COVID- 19”, observed Dr. Dipak Nandi, an entrepreneur, and veteran in the healthcare domain said.
Telemedicine is being recognized as a mandatory technology for any epidemic response like corona virus, in most first-world nations, as it ensures that the patients with COVID-19 receive the care they need.
Experts also believe that telemedicine in this coronavirus crisis, can directly influence in flattening the curve of demand on the health system, slowing transmission and spreading incidence, all over the world over.
More than 50 US healthcare facilities, like Mount Sinai, Kaiser Permanente, Jefferson Health, Cleveland Clinic and Providence, all have such programs to ensure that their patients get the best care even during self-quarantine, sitting inside their homes, without having to step out. It is also being used as a mental health support tool for both patients and health workers, in these tiring times.
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Healthcare systems lacking such programs are already outsourcing similar services to physicians and support staff likes of Teladoc Health etc, so that they can provide quick and safe service to their patients during this period of Corona Virus Pandemic. Moreover, economically, it is beneficial not only for the patients in terms of cut down of traveling expenses but it is beneficial for the healthcare industry too, in terms of lesser human resources being required to keep the industry running. So we can already see a tsunami of demand for the telemedicine platform in almost all nations.
