COVID 19 Brings Forth the Importance of Telemedicine
The intention behind the move was to reduce the dependence on outdoor visits by the medical recipients in the wake of the pandemic and also increase the patient's convenience.
While the ongoing pandemic has raised the importance of telehealthcare services in the US, its benefits are here to stay as patients are assured of a higher and safer levels of care during the times they need the most.
In the month of March 2020, The US Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the primary healthcare coverage provider along with the various state governments in the United States declared that the telemedicine visits both for audio-only and video would be compensated at the same rate as in-person visits to all Medicare recipients for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move by the federal agency gave a sudden boost to the demand for telehealth facilities. The intention behind the move was to reduce the dependence on outdoor visits by the medical recipients in the wake of the pandemic and also increase the patient's convenience. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued guidelines to healthcare providers and doctors to increase the use of telemedicine to take care of the patients in the wake of the coronavirus crises. Based on these guidelines, the US government made certain regulatory changes to facilitate the use of telemedicine.
The Chief Executive Officer of Athene Telehealth, Freida Srisuk states that in times like these where it is important for a doctor and a patient to remain connected and at the same time the in-person exposure has to be limited, the adoption of telemedicine has gained a lot of importance.
“The use of technology for remotely monitoring several vital parameters like heart rhythm, respiratory rate, body weight, blood sugar rate can be both faster and cost-effective for the healthcare recipients,” Srisuk explains.
According to Srisuk, Residents using telehealthcare remain in the comfort of their rooms in the nursing home and their families are reassured that their loved one is continuously monitored by the nursing staff and have a board-certified practitioner available at any given time.
“With Telemedicine, all uncertainties are eliminated. With physician services on the tip of the nurse's fingertips, residents are assured of quality telehealthcare services when they need it the most. It's surely a win-win situation for all parties involved,” She added.
In many parts of the world today, where there is an acute shortage of quality healthcare and super specialty medical services, Telehealthcare services has been a lifesaving service connecting the medical practitioners and the patients even in the remotest corners of the world. The global telehealthcare sector is estimated to be growing at a rate of 16 percent and is expected to touch a figure of $55 billion in the next 5 years.
According to the data collated by The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), almost 9 million people have received telemedicine facilities between mid- March and Mid-June.
Recently, the US House of representatives have also introduced legislation to extend the use of telemedicine flexibilities beyond the COVID 19 pandemic emergency and remove the geographical restrictions on where the patient must be located to access these facilities. The motive behind the move is to ensure that the infrastructure created in the technology is not wasted once the pandemic comes to an end.
The head of a leading telemedicine facility explained that this move would also prompt a lot of medical practitioners to invest in technology and necessary infrastructure as it certainly seems to have long term viability. “However, the government needs to ensure proper momentum and permanently expand reimbursement for telehealth services,” He said.
The touchless healthcare service will be transforming the healthcare industry in the next few years with the rise in chronic diseases and an increase in the aging population. Advancement in digital technology, the increasing availability of cheap reliable devices and services in the home, and acute shortage of qualified medical practitioners is what will drive the growth in the telehealthcare sector in the near future.