We are living in a different world. A world where we hold our phone as a first natural response to any need. Whether you want to watch something, order your dinner, share something with a friend, or even need a ride. Your phone is always the answer. The logical evolution of this behavior is also holding our phones when we are not feeling well to seek medical advice, known as Telehealth. The question now: Are the patients ready to depend on Telehealth to access healthcare services as they trust technology to access their everyday needs?

Telehealth is not a new concept. However, the healthcare sector has witnessed a tremendous shift in patients’ preferences toward Telehealth after COVID-19. We covered the reasons in the previous article.

Read: COVID-19 and the rise of Telehealth applications

And to answer the earlier question, we have to discuss patients’ experiences with Telehealth from their perspective to assess the benefits and discover their motivation.

1- Education and Awareness

The way to recover from a disease or living with a chronic condition is not only about treatments. It is also about awareness. The patient needs to educate himself about his conditions and read the latest studies and best practices. Telehealth gives access to patients to read and learn from creditable resources. For example, in RPMAhealthcare, we provide our patients access to a huge library with 4600+ HD videos covering medical and lifestyle coaching and pieces of training.

2- Healthcare After Hospital Discharge

The unplanned and unpredicted patient admittance to a hospital after being discharged within a specific time interval is a huge economic and psychological burden on patients and their relatives. Also, healthcare providers, insurance companies, and governments are concerned about readmission rates because it is a direct indicator of the quality of the service and patient satisfaction. Remote Patient Monitoring Devices and Telehealth technologies have clinically proven to reduce hospital readmission by significant percentages, reaching 85%.  We have discussed in depth the Telehealth role in reducing hospital readmission.

Read: RPM role in reducing hospital readmission

3- Availability, Accessibility, and Engagement

Imagine a patient who is about to go through a panic attack at 2:00 AM. What would be a better scenario? Wait for days until he can find an available slot with a psychiatrist ? or immediately start a video conversation with an available psychiatrist who will guide him with best practices to overcome this condition?

Using technology infrastructure and Telehealth solutions, it’s possible to get quality healthcare delivered in the comfort of your home. It is much easier to follow up with your doctor without driving long distances, waiting in crowded clinics, or waiting for an available slot for weeks. It is much easier to use Telehealth to schedule your regular visits with your doctors and securely start a video stream with your doctors without leaving your home.

Virtual video visits are not the only available way to communicate with your doctors. You can access them through messaging using the same solution.

It’s your right to get the needed medical advice whenever you need it. It’s also your right to seek multiple opinions. Telehealth makes it smooth to communicate with your personal doctor or consult other creditable doctors worldwide.

This high level of engagement between the doctors and their patients increases patients’ satisfaction levels and builds a strong relationship based on trust and reliability between them and their doctors.

4- Quality and Accuracy of Healthcare Services

Using RPM devices and Telehealth solutions will elevate the quality of the healthcare service provided and make it more accurate. The doctors can monitor the patients’ vital signs all the time and get alarmed when critical patterns are identified. The doctors can also access the patient’s history and adjust the treatment plans or give the most appropriate directions according to the organized reports and indicators. For example, the RPMAhealthcare solution is proven to reduce hospitalizations by 75% and ER visits by 83%.

We cannot cover all the benefits of Telehealth solutions in one article because there is much to discuss. However, from what we have discussed in this article, we can conclude that there is no doubt that patient experience with Telehealth is beneficial on many levels, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic that enforced the importance of using Telehealth solutions. That’s why we are currently witnessing accelerated unprecedented rates of Telehealth adoption.

There are continuous efforts from all concerned sectors to make Telehealth solutions and devices available and accessible for all patients worldwide, and RPMAhealthcare is not an exclusion. We cooperate with top experts in the Telehealth field to provide premium services for our clients, and we are proud of what we have achieved so far. We are inviting you to know more about our solutions here: https://rpmahealthcare.com/#solution