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Advantages and disadvantages of telemedicine

The telemedicine setup is better than trying to relay information to your doctor or nurse and then having them relay the message. Your cough can be seen and your swollen eyes can be seen by the specialist. You’ll be able to get firsthand information about your condition and treatment options. In most cases, telemedicine is considered a standard healthcare facility, and it can be billed to the health insurance without difficulty. So here this article gives information about the advantages and disadvantages of telemedicine to better understand this topic.

Pros or advantages of Telemedicine:

  1. It saves lives in emergency situations, while there is no time to take patients to a hospital.
  2. Telemedicine reduces the cost of each visit. Because the cost of each visit is lower, no shows are less harmful to the practice bottom line.
  3. This system is useful for patients residing in inaccessible areas or isolated regions. Patients can receive clinical health care from their homes without arduous travel to the hospital.
  4. Modern innovation of information technology such as mobile collaboration has enabled easy information sharing and discussion about critical medical cases among healthcare professionals from multiple locations.
  5. Consistent healthcare is scarce in many rural areas, remote locations, and post-disaster situations. Telemedicine may be used to provide emergency healthcare in certain locations or circumstances.
  6. Telemedicine reduces the risk of infectious disease transmission between patients and healthcare providers.
  7. This system also facilitates health education, as the primary level healthcare professional can observe the working procedure of healthcare experts in their respective field and the expert can supervise the works of the novice.
  8. Many patients feel uncomfortable going to the hospital or doctor’s chamber. This system creates communication among patients and healthcare professionals maintaining convenience and commitment. Furthermore, patient records and photographs are kept secure and securely transmitted from one location to another using telemedicine.
  9. Telemedicine allows doctors to focus on more complicated conditions while still reducing the number of times patients must wait to see their doctors.
  10. Telemedicine has reduced outpatient visits by facilitating patient monitoring through the screen, mobile, or phone technology. Doctors will now check prescriptions and supervise medication monitoring. As a result, the cost of healthcare has decreased.
  11. Removing the limitations of a physical office means that your practice can extend its reach and provide service to those in remote locations.
  12. Since telemedicine is still in its infancy, providers who get on board early would have an advantage.
  13. Telemedicine gives doctors more flexibility with their work location and allows them to incorporate more work from home days into their routine.

Cons or Disadvantages of telemedicine:

  1. The overall cost of telecommunication systems, especially data management apparatus and practical training of medical professionals are great.
  2. To prevent unregulated and illegal service providers in this market, the telemedicine system needs strict legal regulation.
  3. Health informatics data, such as X-ray or other photographs, clinical progress notes, and so on, are of poor quality. You run the risk of receiving poor health care.
  4. Due to low interest speed or server problems, telemedicine takes longer due to difficulties in connecting virtual contact. Moreover, this system, cannot provide immediate treatment, such as antibiotics.
  5. If clinical services are provided by novice practitioners, virtual clinical treatment reduces human contact between healthcare professionals and patients, increasing the risk of error in clinical services. Furthermore, a defective electronic system will allow sensitive medical information to be leaked.
  6. When someone needs emergency care, adopting telemedicine initially may cause treatment to be delayed, especially when a doctor cannot deliver life-saving care or laboratory testing via the internet.

Thank you for reading this article. If you have any queries regarding our article on the advantages and disadvantages of Telemedicine then do comment in the comment section below.

Explore more information:
  1. Pros and cons of universal health care 
  2. benefits of telemedicine
  3. Telemedicine terminology
  4. Future of Telehealth
  5. Pros and cons of Telehealth
  6. Barriers of telemedicine
  7. Benefits of telemedicine for doctors

Author Profile

Divya Chauhan
Divya Chauhan is an expert writer with 10+ years of experience as a content writer. They specialize in making complex topics like IT, Health, and general topic easy to understand. Divya has written over thousands of articles to help people with their content. Prior to joining Way2benefits’s editorial team in 2020, Divya worked as a Professor of BCA college and freelancer blogger.