In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic one of my medical providers cancelled all of my in-clinic appointments. Only patients who were considered high risk were being seen in person at the clinic. After a few months, I was contacted by my medical provider and asked if I would like to schedule a telemedicine appointment. At that time, I had no idea what telemedicine was. Then, I was informed that telemedicine allows a patient to communicate with a healthcare provider remotely using technology such as a smart phone or a computer. Two years later, I have implemented telemedicine and I am at the point of confirmation. I have had several telemedicine appointments, and while I still don’t think the telemedicine is as thorough as a face-to-face appointment, it has been really helpful to be able to meet with my provider remotely when an in-person visit cannot be scheduled. As far as what adopter category I would rate myself, I think I am a late majority adopter of telemedicine. I had never heard of telemedicine until the pandemic. With other technologies such as social media, I would categorize myself as an early majority adopter. I had Myspace over a decade ago before Facebook or Instagram or Twitter. Now, I have multiple social media accounts.
Telemedicine really can change lives. Did you know that stroke patients have better outcomes if they are treated within the first hour of their stroke? And where I live, we do not have stroke care providers. The hospital uses telemedicine to connect to doctors over four hours away to care for these patients.
When I worked at the hospital before covid hit we were already implementing telehealth in other fashions as well. A Cardiologist was spending thousands in flights to travel between his hospital and ours to see patients for follow-up care. We installed high-resolution cameras that could zoom in on the patient’s corroded artery for the doctor to view. This not only saved the doctor time but saved the Hospital’s thousands in flight costs.
Rural healthcare also benefits with home healthcare visits and having access to call a doctor immediately instead of having to bring the patient in.
This was a really good topic to talk about!