The market for telemedicine in the healthcare sector has expanded in the recent past few years. Telecommunications (5 Trends Shaping the Future of Telehealth Staffing) that it employs allow healthcare professionals to assess, diagnose and treat patients remotely.
The very concept of telemedicine has changed throughout the past decade to a level that can be described as the backbone of the American healthcare system.
The largest telemedicine market is in North America and it is expected to grow to 35 billion U. S. dollars by 2025, as reported by Statista.
Two forms of telemedicine (5 Trends Shaping the Future of Telehealth Staffing)
- Synchronous Telemedicine: It needs the involvement of two parties which are the patient and the healthcare professional at the same time in order to establish a communication channel that enables real time interaction.
- Asynchronous Telemedicine: It assumes the acquisition of medical data and the subsequent transmission of the same data to a medical specialist at a convenient time for an offline review.
Telehealth As a Technology Trend: What Are the Benefits?
1. Availability of quality healthcare services
This is especially good news for elderly or chronically ill patients who do not wish to take the risk of traveling for a consultation with a medical professional.
- It enables doctors to conduct a physical check on patients at any location at any time and share the results in real time.
- It also eases the RPM process for the medical professionals as they can always check on the patient at their own convenience.
- Reduced cost of overall healthcare as it reduces the length of hospital stay and readmissions.
2. Convenience and Accessibility
A study by Cisco revealed that seventy-four percent of patient preferred easy access to medical care services rather than face-to-face contact with providers for a convenient way.
Telehealth removes the hurdles of first having to arrange the appointment, second having to request the day off from work and third having to go to the clinic just for a first consultation.
That access proves to be useful during calamities especially when time is of essence. If you have an expert that is only a video call away, then data transfer can be done quickly and efficiently.
In case the patient has a chronic disease and can hardly come to the clinic or hospital often, then telemedicine is very helpful for such basic checkups and further appointments.
3. Time Savings
Face-to-face arrangements take more time than a virtual visit because they also take more time than the actual test itself. The Harvard Medical School conducted a study on the amount of time patients spend on medical visits.
They were able to find out that a typical office visit takes almost 121 minutes for patients. This averagely takes a normal of 37 minutes for travelling, 64 minutes in filling up forms in the waiting areas and 20 minutes with the doctor.
While some people might find traveling much easier than others, especially in the rural areas or those who rely on public transport. Telecommunication based virtual visits consume time significantly lesser as compared to onsite visits.
They do not require travel time and patients can round out structures online, prior to a virtual consultation. They also do not need to spend lots of time and effort waiting, but they can also be effective during this waiting period from anywhere they are.
4. Easy Follow-Up
Some of the visits are follow-up visits only. Whether it is after a medical procedure or an illness, doctors might just have to call and feel how patients are doing.
The short visits to doctors are inconvenient for these patients, especially for those recovering as they need to rest but cannot drive yet.
In a virtual visit, the patient is able to avoid the hustle of traveling to the hospital for a brief follow-up appointment. The doctors can then make sure that their recovery is coming out in a positive manner and if they will need to come back for more evaluation.
5. Limited Scope
Telemedicine is limited to an initial consultation and then follow-up sessions. For instance, when a doctor is interviewing or consulting with you remotely, he or she cannot point at any check on your body.
Despite the fact that telehealth is enough for casual conversations, it cannot replace the need and reliability of the traditional face-to-face conferences.
There is also the question of accuracy. Though a professional health expert can diagnose a condition almost to the letter, the practical challenge of judging the severity of a condition often remains a challenge.
Some of the Top Future Telemedicine Trends
The ‘digital first’ approach
In general, it can be stated that healthcare has been a relatively slow industry to embrace the digital approach of things. However, due to the coronavirus crisis, the need for putting pressure on the healthcare ecosystem has increased at a faster rate.
Before the emergence of coronavirus, according to the forecast of the Everest Group, healthcare providers will be increasing their expenditure on digital it services by more than 15% by the end of the year 2025.
The adoption of mhealth
Telemedicine, especially through the use of mobile technologies, is known as mHealth and is widely considered one of the most promising telemedicine trends.
To put it in simple terms, it is a definite method of using mobile technology for the purpose of achieving better health outcomes.
The Global mHealth Market is estimated to be valued at USD 40 billion in the year 2016. 7 billion in 2019 and this figure is expected to rise with time.
The increasing adoption of preventive healthcare and the increase in funding or investment in the mHealth start-ups are also contributing factors to the market growth.
Artificial intelligence as a standard of care
These AI-based healthcare chatbots are part of the telemedicine trend that has been rapidly developing recently. Combined with medical information such as symptoms, medications, treatments, doctors, and conditions, they can be helpful and save time.
For example: The Food and Drug Administration has recently approved the first Artificial Intelligence-based diagnostic device in the form of a system that scrutinizes pictures of the eye to diagnose the disease affecting the retina.
Once the high-quality photos are uploaded, the algorithm then begins to scan for potential signs of diabetic retinopathy.
In the cases provided, the software accurately diagnosed the disorder in 87% which was quite accurate in diagnosing individuals who did not have the disease 90% of the time.
Technological shifts
The major technology being 5G, will offer a faster network speed which has the possibility of revolutionising the telemedicine environment.
This powerful network will be vital in conveying medical images, remote patient monitoring, virtual meetings, and so on. Several needs including Equipment’s, Medicines, and multiple other healthcare needs can also be identified with the help of real time technology.
Other technologies like the internet of medical things, blockchain, and the cloud technology are revolutionizing the telehealth world.
Applications of VR/AR and virtual visits
This technology has been beneficial to both patients and doctors. When it comes to informing and training healthcare professionals as well as the planning of medical procedures, the potential of AR/VR appears to be great.
Virtual visits help to increase the availability and accessibility of health care services. It is possible for a person to be in touch with a medical doctor through the mobile phone, tablet or even a computer.
Real appointments are not required. Therefore, they can speak with a doctor in the comfort of their own home. To be more precise, virtual health applications have an increased investment provider as it can be seen in the following figure.
Remote medical services
A large number of healthcare organizations are considering outsourcing their niche through telemedicine. Specialties such as psychiatry, dermatology, neurology and mental health require vendors for their products.
Globalization
The telehealth market growth size has now increased globally. Telemedicine is now expected to be one of the biggest drivers of international trade.
The telehealth industry (Healthcare Recruitment) trends are improving with global investment being made in this line of business continuously. This potential revenue from telehealth services could have a tremendous impact on the economy of the world.
Conclusion
This has clearly established the need for telehealth industry trends and healthcare application development. The market of $3 billion has the prospect of development up to $250 billion.
The foundation of success has been laid, what is left is to harvest through believing in App inventive as a healthcare mobile app development company.
