In today’s society, health fields such as neuroscience, cardiology, and even dermatologists are well known but telemedicine, what is that? When first hearing about this term on the news, I was intrigued and when I researched a little deeper, I found it was as simple as it sounded. In essence, telemedicine is simply the health practice of using technology to deliver care virtually. It simply is medicine over technology.
From hearing this you may think that telemedicine is nonessential as it seems so simple but this assertion could not be even more wrong. Telemedicine is in fact the future of health care. Though simple, the further integration of technology in medicine will allow it to be more accessible and more convenient for everyone. It will allow so many people who previously couldn’t get the vital care they needed access to endless bodies of medical knowledge and aid from health professionals over the net. This is as technology has a greater reach and reduces the distance decay between people and health offices, allowing for greater receptiveness for medicine. As Brian Hasselfeld says, M.D. Hasselfeld is the assistant medical director for digital health innovations at Johns Hopkins Medicine, “Health organizations are providing virtual appointments and are expanding their telehealth options, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Another vast benefit offered by telemedicine is the control of infectious illness. Previously, doctors and other patients needed to be wary of hospitals as apparent places for pathogens to effortlessly spread since it houses many people who are sick, thus carrying infectious diseases. Telemedicine eradicates this prominent problem since all interactions happen over technology, thus no physical contact is initiated. This advantage will not only make medicine safer for people in general but will also significantly avail large demographics of people such as the immunocompromised. For these people, doctor office visits can cause more harm than good since the infectious pathogens that are present at these places are considerably more likely to cause major harm than to any other person. As such, telemedicine will allow much more accessibility and safety to many people, notably the immunocompromised.
Now the benefits listed are only the tip of the iceberg offered by telemedicine. Telemedicine will allow for better assessment by medical practitioners as they can witness patients in their home environment, insight into family connections, and much more. But even without mentioning this, it is evident that telemedicine is a vastly growing field that will undoubtedly be necessary for the near future. Its use was shown during the COVID-19 era where it allowed for accessibility for patients to the medicine during uncertain times, where they otherwise couldn’t receive this vital aid. Its use by medical practitioners will grow as technology becomes more integrated into everyday life and importantly, becoming the new future for medicine.
Bibliography
“What's the Difference between Telemedicine and Telehealth?” AAFP Home, www.aafp.org/news/media- center/kits/telemedicine-and-telehealth.html#:~:text=Telemedicine%20is%20the%20practice%20of,patient%20at%20a%20distant%20site.
“Benefits of Telemedicine.” Johns Hopkins Medicine, www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/Benefits-of-Telemedicine.
Allison Marin Nov. 6, 2020. “Telemedicine Takes Center Stage in the Era of COVID-19.” Science, 5 Nov. 2020, www.sciencemag.org/features/2020/11/telemedicine-takes-center-stage-era-covid-19.