Telehealth urgent care refers to delivering health-related services and information through the Internet or other electronic means. Both telehealth and telemedicine may be used interchangeably, although they have distinct meanings in the medical field. It is described as the use of electronic communications to transfer medical information from one location to another with the goal of improving a patient’s health. It is becoming more popular and is not a new notion in the medical field. There have been stories of it being utilized since the early twentieth century when service providers used two-way radios to communicate. After that, in the 1960s, health professionals began using telephones to advise and counsel patients. However, with the development of numerous new technologies, it is increasingly posing a threat to traditional healthcare methods. A new vocabulary has evolved throughout time to reflect the discipline of health care (teleradiology and telepsychology) or the objective of the intervention (telemedicine and telepsychology), among other factors (telerehabilitation or telecare).

How are Patients Benefiting from Telehealth & Telemedicine?

There are several advantages to using telehealth. Visiting a doctor in person may be costly and time-consuming, and virtual visits can be less expensive and more convenient. It allows patients to have healthcare access to a licensed professional from the comfort of their homes while still receiving excellent medical treatment. Some more benefits are:

• There is no need to spend time or money on transportation.
• There is no need to take time off work to care for children or elderly relatives.
• More than one Telehealth options are available on demand.
• Easy access to Specialists.
• There is a lower chance of contracting a new illness.
• Lower waiting room wait times lead to better health.

How Doctors Can Benefit from Telehealth?

It is not just the patient who benefits from these services but also the facility and the physicians who provide treatment to the patient. The following is a list of the most significant benefits of telehealth:

• Physicians can broaden their reach
• In certain situations, physicians may receive income for on-call Teleconsultations.
• Physicians may also save additional time by not needing to travel between locations.
• Tertiary care centers can promptly identify distant patients who need transfer to facilities.
• Physicians can access patients in remote locations.
• Physicians get to stay home too.
• For physicians, its access helps minimize office expenditures, such as the requirement for the front desk.

How do Insurance Providers Benefit from Telehealth?

Telemedicine is not simply a wonderful concept from a public health standpoint; it’s actively supported by insurance carriers. With the pandemic altering health systems, services like remote patient monitoring are safer and more cost-effective for patients and insurers.

• Fewer out-of-network transfers
• Insurance companies, on average, save $126 per patient using telemedicine services.
• Insurance Providers may dramatically broaden their prospective patient pool.
• Improve the quality of the rural health patient base with no added travel expenditures.
• No-shows go down because patients are more engaged with their care team.
• Transfers to out-of-network facilities (and related loss of income) go down.
• Hospital readmissions decrease.