Telehealth Implementation amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: Barriers and Opportunities

Hoping to extend the use of telehealth systems to general practitioners, as well as to increase the proportion of users among patients themselves in India.Covid-19 in India is on peak and many healthcare systems are breaking down because of this ill-handled pandemic. 

In such a time where the "scarcity of beds" is there in the hospital, online monitoring and video - telemedicine can be boon for all of us. 

I found this article a very good read.

//www.hindawi.com/journals/jdr/2020/9036847/  

Telehealth is a great intervention in my eye. In the time of this pandemic telehealth played a vital role, it has affected our basic life and helped to control basic health necessities. After the arrival of the Telehealth Innovation and Improvement Act of 2019 (USA), I feel that other countries will also focus on the innovation and improvement of telehealth. Telehealth suffers two main problems in India's first infrastructure and second Indian people behavior. In Indian culture, a health checkup is not mandated. If someone falls ill then they go for a health checkup. If we look at Indian society very deeply, we find that most people do not go to the doctor even after falling ill. They went to the normal medicine center and took medicine.

//www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/773/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22health+care%22%5D%7D&r=135

//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7129346/

1. Telehealth is indeed the need of the hour especially amidst the overwhelming situation of Covid-19 in our country.
2. It has advantages of providing instant consultation from anywhere hence globally connecting people to the Healthcare system on a wide platform.
3. The doctors can connect to their patients on a one to one basis and also to a larger audience all at once which is really helpful during pandemic as it addresses the similar problems of a large number of patients at the same time.
4. It is less expensive and easily accessible in the modern era
5. Patient privacy is a concern that needs to be considered when using telehealth options.

The referenced  article sourced from WebMD provides a detailed explanation on telehealth implementation. 

//www.webmd.com/coronavirus-in-context/video/eric-wallace

Telehealth is a great way to get the health care you need while still practicing social distancing. It is the use of electronic information and telecommunication technologies to provide care when you and the doctor are not in the same place at the same time. If you have a phone or a device with internet access, you already have everything you need to get medical care or services through telehealth — you may be able to:

• Talk to your doctor live over the phone or video chat.
• Send and receive messages from your doctor using chat messaging, email, secure messaging, and secure file exchange.
• Use remote patient monitoring so your doctor can check on you at home. For example, you might use a device to gather ECG or other vitals to help your doctor stay informed on your progress.

Benefits of telehealth

Although virtual visits may not be as common as traditional in person doctor’s appointments, there are many benefits that explain why this type of care is growing in popularity.

• Limiting physical contact reduces everyone’s exposure to COVID-19
• Visiting virtually can address health issues wherever patients are, even from the comfort of home
• Staying put cuts down on commuting, travel in bad weather, time off from work, need for child care
• Using virtual health care tools can shorten wait times to see a provider and expand the range of access to specialists who live further away

Telehealth may be a helpful option any time, but it is especially important to know about during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

CITATION:

//telehealth.hhs.gov/