The Pandemic is Showing Us Why Investing in Telehealth is Extremely Important
It’s the inevitable truth and a reflection of society’s technology dependence.
Life as we know it on a global scale has been drastically changed especially that of our healthcare system. As social distancing measures are more strictly enforced (in some parts of the world more than others) practitioners are turning to online means and searching for solutions in order to communicate with their patients. Telemedicine, or telehealth interchangeably, is defined as providing patient care through virtual means such as video or phone call without actual physical encounter. Telemedicine is rapidly becoming an integral part of healthcare and is instrumental in maintaining the continuity of care and providing alternative means for healthcare.
In its own way, telemedicine mitigates forms of oppressive structural violence and amplifies patient narratives apart from the medical institutions. This importance and acceleration of usage also highlight the pitfalls and why investing in these ongoing issues involving telehealth over time will lead to better patient care through technological means.
The Rise of Telehealth During a Pandemic
In a study conducted through the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, May of 2020 saw telehealth communication visits go from 1% in previous months to 70% in a 4 week period which totaled to about 1,000 telemedicine calls in one day for a single hospital.
Doctors are able to provide directed care as there is more flexibility in scheduling, less friction between appointments, and some patients even prefer this type of encounter that saves them the hassle of going to their doctor’s and potentially allows them to spend less time waiting and more time getting treatment.
Telemedicine provides a way for patients to receive continuity of care.
Especially if individuals in lower-income communities are found to have less access to these resources and fewer follow-ups which is a crucial part of primary and family medicine.
America has one of the leading numbers in cases of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Access to healthcare is especially limited in rural communities where the drive seems too far and time-consuming just for a general check-up but these check-ups could be crucial to catch the early signs of a dangerous illness or practice preventative measures.
In a way, it mitigates health disparities and actually works to try and deconstruct structural vulnerability which for low-income and immigrant folks come in forces that limit decision making and life options. Patients are deterred from in-person visits for fear of lost time that could have gone to their jobs, saving gas money, or just general fear that institutions instill and continually perpetuate.
Telehealth Breeds Comfort
Telehealth creates a form of comfort for patients. Comfort is met through the acknowledgment of the patient’s illness narrative while taking into account cultural nuances, personal experiences, social environment and it’s a crucial step in the direction of building trust in the healthcare system. Although a doctor and their patients could be separated by hundreds of miles, they are still connected through the screen.
This system meets the patient where they are and allows doctors to respect the autonomy of the individual while strengthening the connections between the provider and the receiver.
Some DrawBacks to Telehealth
Racial and ethnic minorities, individuals in rural communities, immigrants, and those in lower socioeconomic classes can face illiteracy towards technology and even distrust. Certain communities have instilled negative perceptions of technology, exacerbated by the lack of physical eye-contact or touch. Perceptions of technology, especially those who are from the older generations can be cautionary and it is extremely important that clinics or hospitals that are providing heavy telehealth measures understand the general sentiment of their communities that surround towards technology and perhaps if this sentiment is negative, how can this be changed throughout the community in the future.
This global pandemic has brought about the rapid onslaught of telemedicine usage and has brought to the forefront how this system is so critical right now, but also is something that needs to be continually invested in for the foreseeable future.
These drawbacks aren’t a deterrent from a practice done through telemedicine, but instead an invitation for future healthcare practitioners and professionals to hone in and make it readily available for all populations.
Telehealth seems to be able to traverse barriers such as proximity and comfort. Assessing the pitfalls of this technological advancement in healthcare, however, will allow future developers and healthcare communities to pinpoint what needs to be worked on.
