Telemedicine & Virtual Care

The healthcare sector is rapidly changing as experts and institutions seek new methods to improve treatment access while lowering total healthcare costs. Thankfully, digital technology makes it more straightforward for healthcare providers to connect with their patients, removing the obstacles that may prevent people from receiving medical treatment.

Patients may now communicate with healthcare professionals from the comfort of their own homes via live video, audio, and instant messaging. This is particularly advantageous for residents in rural areas, who would otherwise have to travel great distances to their local doctor’s office or visit a specialist.

With words like telemedicine and virtual care sweeping the industry, healthcare practitioners must ensure that they are using the correct terminology when informing patients about the advantages of these new digital technologies. Learn more about the distinctions between these words and how they apply to healthcare digitalization.

Telemedicine is a word that refers to the treatment of different medical problems without having to visit the patient in person. To address a patient’s concerns and assess their condition remotely, healthcare professionals may utilize telehealth platforms such as live video, audio, or instant messaging. Giving medical advice, guiding patients through at-home exercises, or referring them to a nearby physician or facility are all examples of this. The rise of telemedicine applications is even more exciting, which allows patients to get treatment directly from their smartphones or tablets.

Treating some diseases remotely may, of course, be difficult. Telemedicine is often used to treat common diseases, manage chronic conditions, and provide specialist treatment. If a patient develops an infection that is acute or severe, the remote provider will urge them to seek medical care immediately.

Virtual care is a broad phrase that refers to how healthcare professionals connect with their patients via the internet. In addition to treating patients through telemedicine, physicians may interact with them remotely via live video, audio, and instant messaging. This includes things like checking in after an in-person appointment, monitoring vitals after surgery, and addressing any questions they have about their diagnosis, condition, or treatment plan. Stated, virtual care refers to all of the ways that patients and physicians may interact in real-time using digital technologies. Virtual care covers a wider variety of digital healthcare services than telemedicine, which relates to long-distance patient care.

According to a Facts and Factors market research study, the Global Telehealth Market size and share revenue are projected to expand at a 26.5 percent annual CAGR from 2020 to 2026, from USD 62.45 billion in 2020 to USD 475.50 billion in 2026.