Telemedicine during COVID-19: The Role and Practical Use Cases
Sep 06, 2021
iCrowdMarketing powered by iCrowdNewswire
The outbreak of COVID-19 was a high-alert emergency of international concern. In such a hazardous situation, telehealth was proven to be an effective option in handling COVID-19. We will go through some of the practical use cases of telemedicine during these two years of the pandemic.Introduction
During the 2020-2021 pandemic, it was essential to maintain social distancing. The number of visits to ambulatory practices declined by nearly 60 percent. The pandemic has made telemedicine the safest communication system between patients-doctors and patients-relatives. Technology has been accepted widely, starting from education to medicine. Telehealth has been widely used in physical therapy and has proven to be highly effective in managing patients’ rehabilitation after injuries or surgeries, as well as providing remote care for professional athletes.
Let's see how telemedicine worked during COVID-19:
1. Interaction with Covid patients
Telehealth uses devices/tools to consult patients with COVID-19 to determine symptoms, route-causes, medications, further processes, admission in hospital, and other necessary precautions. It was evident that the doctor needs to do a proper checkup before prescribing the medication to their patient. But in the case of COVID-19, no one was able to connect to the patient physically. Telemedicine came as a rescue in these last two years.
2. A search of possible patients
It was hard to research who came in contact with whom. Not only the doctors but also defense services (police forces) used telemedicine software for interaction. People who came in contact with covid patients were informed to be quarantined and take preventive measures.
3. Sorting COVID-19 symptoms from chronic cold
If COVID symptoms are detected during the telehealth discussion, the affected one could be encouraged to take a test for COVID-19. Sometimes patients could just be suffering from cold or flu. In such complications, telehealth can use screening algorithms for sorting out the covid patients from others.
4. Monitoring
Contagious diseases such as COVID-19 that spread through touch can be monitored using telemedicine software and telehealth applications. Mobile and smartphones are on top of it. We can use the internet and our devices (even laptops and tablets) to connect and monitor the patient online. The doctors can decide whether to admit the patient or quarantine them for treatment using technology.
5. Data collection
All the scientists and doctors depend on the data which they start collecting after observing patients. All this work was done using telemedicine and technology.
Installing the equipment in patients' rooms and constantly monitoring data gathering helped the system with lots of data. This data even helped in the treatment of the same patient.
6. The treatment process
It is crucial to give the perfect treatment after confirming that the patient is affected by COVID-19. Technology even assisted in making it easy to treat the patient. Telemedicine has been widely used for physical therapy to treat patients with orthopedic, geriatric, and neurological diseases.
7. Post COVID care
After the patient is cured, there are things to take care of like maintaining hygiene, distancing, diet, and exercise. Telemedicine is active in the form of mobile applications.
Conclusion
Telehealth has to be an essential tool in medical services for keeping people safe during COVID-19 outbreaks. The whole of humanity has got a glimpse of telemedicine for the future just within these two years.
Tags: English