As the pandemic moves across the world, there have been millions of cases of Covid-19 and thousands of fatalities. The global economy has suffered because this pandemic has sent shock waves worldwide. To fight the coronavirus Covid-19 crisis, the healthcare industry continues to evolve and adjust to the extraordinary needs. Both primary care doctors and healthcare providers are adopting digital options to provide optimal patient care.
In the Indian healthcare sector, accessibility of health care services has been a perennial problem. Telemedicine can be used to enhance healthcare for India’s population, which is predominantly rural. Digital India Mission, deeper penetration of smartphones and mobile apps, readily available last mile connectivity and cheaper data plans; all are the driving forces of technology in the healthcare sector.
How India is Using Telemedicine
Telemedicine is a mix of information and communication technologies with medical science. The Indian government has taken steps to provide equal access to quality care to all.
At the Health and Wellness Centers, India’s digital health policy advocates use of digital tools at the grassroots level wherein a midlevel provider/health worker can connect the patients to the doctors through technology platforms to provide the timely and best care.
In this regard, on March 26, 2020, the health ministry issued telemedicine guidelines where doctors could write prescriptions based on telephone conversations. This step reduces risks of transmission for medical professionals as well as patients. Also, the impact on family and caregivers is lessened.
Telehealth is primarily a way to perform Covid-19 and other urgent-care screenings and useful and helpful in deciding who needs to be tested for Covid-19.
Accessing Telemedicine
In managing the Covid-19crisis, telemedicine and telehealth are also turning out to be the cheapest, as well as the fastest, way to provide health care. Telemedicine also acts as a bridge between the rural-urban health divide.
Telemedicine acts as a safety valve for our strained and overburdened healthcare system. Taking the telehealth route would help in filtering and screening the most severe patients who need hospitalization.
Institutions who have invested in telemedicine are well placed to ensure that patients with Covid-19 kind of issues receive the care they need. When doctors and nurses have access to more data, the quality and effectiveness of care increase exponentially. Telehealth can provide a comprehensive framework for applications, medical ethics, mode of communication, data security and confidentiality, fees, process, document requirements, drug list, technological platforms and more.
Telemedicine may not be able to solve the problems we face. We face challenges in technology and infrastructure. However, telemedicine has shown a way in which medical practitioners can evaluate and manage patients. Though we can’t predict the future of telemedicine, it is undoubtedly going to be a significant inflexion point in the use of virtual care.
