Alleviating Worldwide Health Crises with Telehealth

Among the long list of issues healthcare administrators face across the world, the aging population and rise of chronic diseases are the most pressing concerns. The push to change our approach to healthcare has become more urgent in order to address the constant prevalence of these issues. Rather than treating diseases, governments and healthcare professionals are striving to put more of the focus on prevention, and they’re implementing telehealth to do so.

Here are three main factors telehealth will assist with:

Prevention and Wellness– Providers use audio and videoconferencing to educate patients on how to enhance their health and prevent diseases.

Transition of Care– Clinical outcomes are improved when telehealth is used for care coordination; connecting the patient’s nurse, physician, and family members, no matter where they are.

Post-Acute Care– Telehealth reduces the rate of unnecessary hospitalization, something that costs billions of dollars per month in the US. Remote health monitoring enables medical providers to track a larger population of patients.

In the coming years, it is clear that telehealth will be utilized for many different avenues of care by connecting patients with medical professionals and family members. Even though telehealth is currently mostly used to treat low-acuity ailments, addressing chronic disease is also within its scope of treatment. With more providers advocating preventative tactics to avoid diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular issues, the immense pressure health systems face to treat these conditions can begin to be alleviated through remote care. Telehealth provides a great opportunity to enhance patient satisfaction, increase access to medical care, and lower the costs of healthcare expenditures worldwide.