Decades ago, the thought of sitting in your home while you meet with a doctor on a video/voice call would have sounded farfetched. Thankfully, it is becoming exceedingly popular. Telehealth has many different benefits for both patients and providers. The reduced cost, convenience, and better health care all play a significant role in telehealth's benefits.
Telehealth lessens the burden of getting off work, pulling kids out of school, or rushing to get to a doctor's appointment. Telehealth's many benefits are surpassing the previous inconveniences. Telehealth can cut the cost of both the patient and the facilities drastically.
Telehealth has many benefits to using it, but one of the biggest is how it can easily save both parties a good bit of money. The cost savings alone would be enough for most to start using telehealth. If the cost difference wouldn't change your mind, read on to see all the benefits to the patients and providers when using telehealth.
It is the future of medicine. Imagine being able to call your doctor for an appointment from wherever you are most comfortable or wherever is most convenient at the time. Convenience and doctors' appointments have never really gone hand in hand.
Handling the majority of your health care online, through a video or voice call, is great for both provider and patient. Medical care can be better and more efficient if done correctly. Telehealth/telemedicine lets you schedule an appointment with a few clicks from anywhere. Some apps/sites allow you to input all symptoms and make an appointment when it is convenient for you.
It is simply a “virtual” doctor's visit. You can easily have a web appointment if you have an internet connection and a:
Within telehealth, you can have virtual visits, get text reminders before your appointment, and experience easier follow up (you may even receive these after you register in a portal or on an app). Telehealth is more than just a simple video call. It is a full-on service evaluation from a medical provider.
Gone will be the days of calling and being put on hold for a while to simply make an appointment. Some people dread making those calls or put it off because they seem to run out of time. They can't take time off to make the appointment, can't keep taking their kids out of school, and the list goes on.
No matter the reasons behind your desire to try telehealth, there are many benefits. Now let's look at all the ways telehealth will significantly benefit you as a patient.
Other than the cost being far less expensive than traditional appointments, this is the next best thing about using telehealth. There are many different reasons why telehealth is far more convenient than your traditional doctor's appointment. Read on to find out a few of the ways telehealth is convent:
You can sit in your pajamas while talking to your doctor from the comfort of your bed or favorite chair. You can even call while sitting in your car on your lunch break. It does not matter where you are. Even out of state, you can have your doctor's visit. You may worry that the quality of care may not be as good, but it is typically the opposite.
This is also a great benefit for those that live in the middle of nowhere. As long as you have a good internet connection or cell service, you can use the benefit of telehealth. Another great benefit is for those that live in areas where winters are bad. Snow can make for a rough or even dangerous drive to your doctor's appointment.
It is also a great way for someone with a disability that may have trouble getting to and from doctors' appointments to have checkups. Many elderly patients have grown to love telehealth visits because they struggle to get to appointments.
Not only is it very convenient, but it will also save you plenty of your precious time. Life is too short to sit around in waiting rooms. Traditionally, you would wait in the waiting room for 10-20 minutes, all depending on when your appointment is if more urgent walk-ins or appointments were running over.
You are usually met by a nurse who gets any new information from you and what brought you in. She leaves, and you wait another 10-15 minutes based on how busy they are.
Next, the doctor comes in and talks with you and sometimes has to walk out to look up something for you, call in meds or check on your chart. You wait for the doctor, stop by the front desk to see when your next appointment (if any) would be. Finally, you are in your car headed home.
If you are a parent, you know these trips typically never go as planned. Even worse if you need to bring a few kids to the appointment. It's stressful for everyone. Imagine if you simply stepped into a different room in your house or while waiting for school to let out and could complete a doctor's appointment.
It saves time, saves your sanity, and saves you money.
Most virtual visits will be billed in the same way that your doctor would traditionally charge your insurance. Many insurance companies do cover telehealth, but there are still some that do not. It is best to contact your insurance company. A few well-known insurance companies that cover telehealth are:
You may just need to pay a simple co-pay of about $20-$50 for each visit. It is also a good idea to check with the doctor's office to make sure they accept your form of insurance. Every insurance and provider will charge differently. It is up to you to contact your insurance company to see what to expect, so you are not blindsided.
During the covid pandemic, the “cares act” requires these insurance companies to cover 100% of the visit without copays. This could change in the future as the government comes out with new programs. There are even some programs that cover uninsured patients when the visit is about Covid 19 virus.
Therefore, it is hard to estimate what it will cost you to see a doctor using telehealth. We can say with certainty that it is typically a lower fee than going to a traditional doctor's office.
Source: Insurance
Cost is everything in the health world. Many people struggle to make it to appointments because:
The lowered cost of the actual visit and then not needing to leave your home or work all make telehealth a great alternative to traditional doctor's visits. It is a no brainer to use telehealth for most people. These virtual visits can cover a wide range of different illnesses, all while you sit comfortably in your home.
There are many illnesses, physical and mental, that are supported by telehealth. Many on the list you may think can not be treated over a computer, but it really can be that simple. Here are a few problems you could use telehealth for:
There are still some illnesses and appointments that will need to be done in person. If you need:
When you just need to make a quick appointment or checkup, it is awful going into a doctor's office full of sick people. Yes, doctors' offices typically have separate waiting areas and are clean, but some people will still go to the wrong waiting room and touch everything.
The last thing you want is to get sick after a simple checkup. When there are outbreaks of different illnesses, you can keep your family safe by having a virtual doctor's appointment. TTelehealth visits will also greatly benefit medical facilities.
Doctors will see fewer patients in person, which will help to stop the spread of different viruses. You will still get great one on one care just without meeting in person. The quality of your care doesn't get worse. If anything, it gets better.
A considerable factor with telehealth visits when talking about facilities is how it will better that particular doctor's office. In some cases, it won't, but for the most part, everyone will benefit. There is a decent amount that will need to be completed before offering patients the option to use telehealth.
It is not a jump right in type of situation, and there can be a learning curve.
Staff needs to be trained, and the facility has to be specifically set up to be able to handle the new technology. All the coordination of setting up a telehealth office will cost money upfront to keep it running.
Doctors' offices will be able to reach far more patients. Many people may live in rural areas or even a different city from their provider. The drive could be way too far for them to become a care-giver's patient even though they hear great things and would like to. The patient is left unhappy, feeling like they are settling, and the office loses out on more income.
Branching out to telehealth can help increase the number of patients in an office, which in return will help with the cost of the upkeep of all the equipment. This will all occur while assisting patients in getting better-quality health care no matter where they live.
Some offices will not have the ability to setup a telehealth program or not have the resources to offer this service to all their patients. This is when virtual medical companies can fill the gaps in care. They can partner with these companies to provide services until the patient can make it into the office.
If the health care facilities are small, they could have a hard time setting up telehealth calls/video calls. The upkeep can also be expensive. As mentioned above, bringing in far more patients helps to increase income.
Another way for a facility to save money is:
Being able to take on more patients while having less staff will easily bring more income to the facility. Everyone stays healthy as the staff is less likely to catch something from a patient. Even hospitals are using telehealth to bring in more patients and income.
As mentioned above, it will benefit doctors and patients. Being able to spend less time shuffling patients around the office and instead of spending more time speaking to patients is a great thing all around. Getting a doctor's undivided attention during your appointment should always happen, but unfortunately, that may not always be the case with in-person appointments.
While there are many places you can go online to find a random doctor, this cuts into your health care continuity if you want to see a familiar face, as most do. Via telehealth, you sign up, have an appointment, then the next time, you have to start all over with the next doctor. Your patient folder will be updated, but it can be a struggle to start over.
Many people get a good feel for their doctor and start to build a nice patient and doctor relationship. Having a doctor, you know, and trust is everything, and you will be more likely to share all of the information about whatever illness you may have. You could more easily hold back with a stranger, which could create an issue leaving you not treated correctly.
If you decide you, like many others, would like to try a provider that could be your doctor for good, you will need to find a local doctor's office that is taking new patients and that uses telehealth. VirtualWalkinCenter.com tries to schedule your return visits with the same medical provider when possible. If you require a visit on a day that your original provider is off, you will see someone familiar with your health information.
Telehealth And The Future Of Medicine
Telehealth is quickly taking over the world, whether anyone is ready or not. Even so, there will still be plenty of doctors and facilities that will take on in-person patients.
It is easy to see that the benefits outweigh the cost for providers. There are not many negative things for patients, either. You can try the process out with VirtualWalkinCenter.com and can always switch back to in-person care if you wish. Chances are you will test out using telehealth and never want to go back to only going to traditional doctors' appointments.
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