Telemedicine is an emerging concept in the healthcare domain where healthcare professionals use Information Communication Technology (ICT) techniques to render services to many people, including areas where distance is the main factor (Nittari et al., 2020). During the communication, the patient and the healthcare personnel exchange information for diagnosis and question-answer sessions to ensure that service is provided over the communication technology devices.
Telemedicine history spans back to the early 20th century when people in war could not get the services of nursing professionals. The USA army in 1960 communicated with nurses in American hospitals who prescribed medication from remote areas. In contemporary society, patients can access medical services remotely, especially in medically underserved areas (Calton et al., 2020). For example, a person can receive better services through a phone call where they will explain their situation, and a prescription follows.
Telemedicine plays two critical roles in the healthcare domain to improve the quality of life. Consultation, diagnosis, and treatment are the first services offered by telemedicine as the patient can communicate with the physician online and explains their situations. The physicians on the other side hear the condition and prescribe medication. The different role is research which makes it possible for the medical practitioner to collect information about a particular community without physically visiting them.
Telemedicine is beneficial to both the patients and the doctors. Patients enjoy increased access to care where they can get the services of a doctor without traveling to the healthcare facility (Dorsey & Topol, 2020). Further, preventive maintenance is made easy as the doctors can use the avenue to caution the patients to take note of new infections and how to get rid of them. On the side of the medical personnel, they have an opportunity to increase their revenue generation since they can attract people from different parts of the world.
Telemedicine is disadvantageous because its implementation is slow, and only 26 states in the USA have insurers who are willing to cover the medication. On the other hand, the information recorded may be inaccurate as the ability to communicate effectively differ from one person to another (Calton et al., 2020). Hackers may also take advantage of online communication to take important information which they can use for personal gains. On the side of the doctors, they cannot examine to confirm the information provided by the patients.
The future of telemedicine is more promising because it serves as an alternative way of the government serving its populations. Therefore, the field is likely to receive more investment from both the public and private sectors (Dorsey & Topol, 2020). Decentralized care is expected to become more common as creating a telemedicine center is cheaper than operationalizing a healthcare facility.
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