Time is money, and telemedicine can help you save both. Coming down with a common illness can cause you to miss work and feel lousy, so the quicker the recovery, the better. Many of us find it difficult to go see a doctor when we are sick. Some common reasons include the time it takes to drive to the doctor, the wait time we know we will run into once we arrive, and the cost associated with the visit. Telemedicine offers an innovative outlet for patients to receive treatment and medicine efficiently to get up and running as soon as possible. Here’s how!
- No Travel – Just like with everything else these days, you can now get a doctor at your fingertips too. Depending on your ailment, telemedicine can be used with smartphones, laptops, computers or a number of other devices to utilize video calling, emails, or phone calls. This convenient communication can help especially in rural areas where it can become a full day’s activity to go see a doctor with the long travel times. Instead, geographical borders are eliminated and a diagnosis can be made in the comfort of the patient’s home. Telemedicine has also discovered other benefits of eliminating geographic restrictions by allowing doctors to communicate with another and share information for better diagnoses from specialists.
- No Wait Time – After finally arriving at a doctor’s office, the wait times can easily take 30 minutes to an hour or longer. With telemedicine, wait times can be drastically reduced. Even during the wait, the patient is in the comfort of their own home and can proceed with their everyday activities or work as they await the doctor. Between travel time and wait time, telemedicine can easily help save a patient over 2 hours.
- Lower Cost – Using telemedicine services generally cost about half as much or less compared to a regular doctor’s visit or urgent care visit. For common illnesses like cold symptoms, telemedicine offers a quick and easy alternative to the traditional doctor visit. For those who can’t afford to take time off of work, the convenience can allow them to get treatment without missing work and allow them to get better faster instead of avoiding treatment altogether due to time and money constraints.
The future is here with telemedicine, and technology has allowed for us to have quality care at our fingertips. The savings in time and money can be attributed to both patients and doctors as the visits can be conducted efficiently and wait times can be reduced for patients, while doctors have the opportunity to see more people in a given time.