e- has become so crucial in the present times that it almost weighs on every other alphabet & makes any other word sound almost incomplete. The prominence has increased multifold in the current times owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While things were already on the rise electronically, the increase took an exponential turn almost in all areas, including jobs, education, and health.

It was astonishing and pleasant to see the health sector adopting a more technological way of addressing health concerns. Well, it was the demand of the time. The increasing number of cases of a disease with an unknown root cause and no definite treatment method had to exhaust the number of available resources. There was a shortage of doctors, nursing staff, medicines, hospital beds, hospitals, and practically every medical resource. This disaster brought to light the concept and value of telehealth or e-health or m-health (mobile health), or telemedicine.

What is Telehealth?

Telehealth is a way through which the public can avail of a few selected medical services remotely. While some of the aspects (like surgery) don’t fall under this umbrella, various others are covered that would have otherwise required an in-person visit of the patient. It allows

• Online communication between patients and doctors through several electronic mediums - it could be via chats or voice/video calls.
• Ordering of blood tests or any other examination required - a home collection of samples & home delivery of results.
• Home delivery of medicines/drugs or medical tools like oximeter, BP or sugar checking machines, etc.
• Telemonitoring, which can be categorized as one of its subsets. It facilitates monitoring a patient’s health through various supportive mobile apps.
• Consultation among healthcare professionals, wherein one physician can consult another for a particular case.

Telemedicine has come as a boon facilitating easy and quick access to health services keeping in mind the criticality, availability, and feasibility of things. It is, to an extent contributing to the vision of health as a basic right of every human being.

Can Telehealth Replace Physical Visits Entirely?

No, of course not! We’ve already listed the scope earlier, and going beyond the scope is not an option. Some health checks cannot be done without physical examination, and physical procedures cannot be replaced by any remote procedure, even remotely.

However, within the defined scope, e-health has proven to be a big advantage in the healthcare industry.

Let’s use that advantage to our advantage & make others aware of the benefits!