What is Telehealth Services: Why You Need It And How It Is Helpful

Telehealth services have emerged as a game-changer for the whole wide world in terms of healthcare service delivery during the severe times of Covid -19. Do you know what telehealth services are?

Telehealth Services Meaning :

In telehealth, physicians, hospitals, clinics, labs, nurses, healthcare providers, and surgeons use technology to deliver a diagnosis, medical prescriptions, and treatment without requiring a patient and provider to meet physically. It involves the use of video/phone calls, apps, uploading and downloading of prescriptions, using cameras, and communicating through apps.
Prior to Covid-19, the healthcare services were already utilizing technologies. However, post-Covid, healthcare services have increasingly turned to telehealth services. With the help of telehealth services patient monitoring is also possible

Medical Telehealth Post-COVID

Since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine and digital health technologies have become increasingly popular. According to CMS data, nearly 1.70 million Medicare patients receive help through telehealth by April 2020. By mid-October 2020, more than 24.5 million Medicare patients (about 40% of all Medicare patients) had used telehealth. The data reveals how providers have successfully integrated telemedicine into traditional health care delivery models.

Medicare currently covers approximately 270 telehealth services. However, 160 services have been added temporarily. These 160 services include service categories such as emergency department visits, nursing facility visits, and initial inpatient. Additionally, Medicare covers discharge day management services until the end of the PHE.

Telehealth services Can Be Categorized In 3 Types:

Interactive Telemedicine/Telehealth-

Interactive telemedicine and telehealth services happen in real-time where provider and patient communicate live. Patient sessions can take place in their homes or at designated medical kiosks. These interactions can happen via phone or with the help of video conferencing software/apps that conforms with HIPAA regulations.

Remote Patient Monitoring –

Telehealth, also called telemonitoring, refers to a method of remotely monitoring patients from their homes using mobile devices. These collect data about temperature, blood sugar, blood pressure, and other vital signs.

Store-And-Forward –

It is also popular with the name of asynchronous telemedicine. It allows providers to share patient information, such as lab results, with another by storing the information and forwarding it.

The store and the forward process does not take place live. It allows the patient and healthcare provider to view the results or anything that helps care when they are comfortable.

Asynchronous communication has some inherent advantages over synchronous communication:

1. When information gets transmitted at a leisurely pace to a recipient’s system. One can collect information and save it and later re-played. Therefore, requiring fewer transmission channels and costing less.
2. Techniques such as store-and-forward enable retrieval of material at any time, eliminating scheduling issues.
3. Telehealth offers more opportunities to research and organize a response since scheduling is easy in it.
4. Furthermore, it allows the communicator to work more slowly when an immediate response is not needed.

In some cases, asynchronous communication modalities carry some disadvantages as well, as with most technologies. In some cases, one cannot guarantee prompt responses to questions and requests. Furthermore, asynchronous communication methods are generally unsuitable during an emergency.

Benefits of Telehealth:

Innovation and creativity are the hallmarks of telehealth. It is really the next level in healthcare. This has immensely benefited people based in remote areas or people who are not able to receive quality healthcare services due to pandemics.

Let’s look at some of the advantages of Tele-Healthcare Services,

• This has strengthened relationships between doctors and patients during a pandemic
• Medical specialists can contact patients immediately via Tele-Emergency, regardless of their geographic location.
• It can save lives in emergencies, especially in rural areas, When a hospital cannot take the patient.
• It brings down the cost savings since the physical visit is not needed.
• Providers can access patient records immediately through electronic medical records
• It allows primary-level healthcare professionals to observe the working procedures of experts in their respective fields. At the same time experts can supervise trainees remotely
• In telehealth, doctors can see patients who suffer from contagious diseases without the risk of a face-to-face consultation.

Why Considering Outsourcing For Telehealth Is A Smart Option :

There are a variety of medical billing tasks related to telehealth that can be challenging, including medical billing coding. Moreover, hiring someone from the USA means paying a high amount of money to medical billers. However, trusting an offshore company like Vo Healthcare can prove to be a smart move. VO Healthcare has skilled and certified medical billing and coding professionals who can assist you with telehealth. This will save you money and allow you to focus on care.