Telehealth services are increasingly being offered throughout the United States. These services are working to provide improved health care for all Americans. Video health care, or telehealth measures, give people immediate access to medical professionals who can effectively diagnose and treat injuries and illnesses. A growing number of drugstore clinics have also gotten into the telehealth game recently, driving the telemedicine trend even further.

CVS Health recently announced that they will be introducing internet access for their MinuteClinic treatment facilities in many states. Although these clinics in CVS drugstore locations can be more convenient than going to a doctor’s office, they can still have wait times of several hours during peak times. So, CVS has found a solution. They’ll also be offering the ability for patients to gain access to medical professionals (like nurse practitioners and physician assistants) 24/7 from their mobile devices. All they’ll have to do is log on through the CVS Pharmacy app (available for both iPhone and Android users) to get treated.

Each patient has to complete a health questionnaire indicating their medical history and current issue; then they’re matched to a board-certified health care provider that’s licensed in their state. The provider goes over the questionnaire and conducts a video-enabled visit to assess the patient’s condition and come up with an appropriate treatment plan. Providers can even prescribe medications through this service (and they don’t have to be filled at CVS pharmacies). They can also make referrals if they determine that an in-person doctor’s visit would be better for that particular case. These video visits typically last about 15 minutes. That means it’s a quick and easy doctor’s visit conducted right from your phone, without you ever having to leave the house!

CVS has introduced internet access for their MinuteClinic treatment facilities in many states.

There are tons of benefits to interacting with a medical professional in a MinuteClinic or straight through the app – the main one being that patients can now get care whenever and wherever they need it. When they’re seen by a doctor doesn’t depend on how many other patients need to be treated, so they’re able to get immediate care. Patients who live in rural or remote areas can also have more access to treatment without having to worry about transportation to a facility. Increased access means there’s a more even distribution of care for people throughout the country.

Another great benefit is that these clinics and video chats are much cheaper than an in-person doctor’s office or emergency room visit. In fact, using the MinuteClinic online service costs just $59 with a credit or debit card. Some reports say that an average ER visit typically costs around $2,000, which represents a huge amount of savings. Currently, insurance isn’t taken by CVS for telehealth visits, but the company is working on getting insurance coverage in the future. This service can also be extremely helpful for those individuals without health insurance, since everything can be paid for out-of-pocket. Plus, with a set flat rate, patients can’t be nickel and dimed with added costs. This, in turn, will help make health care more affordable and accessible for people at any income level.

There aren’t many restrictions on who can use the telehealth services, either. As long as the patient is two years old and up, they can use these telehealth options for a variety of minor injuries and illnesses including:

• Seasonal allergies
• Colds and coughs
• Earaches
• Flu
• Sinus infections
• Sore throats
• Upset stomachs
• Women’s services (like UTIs)
• Minor injuries

Since patients can be treated for these types of conditions (among others), it means that there will be reduced wait times in emergency rooms and urgent care clinics. Individuals with non-life-threatening issues can be treated with video visits, so patients with more serious problems will be able to see a doctor more quickly. In fact, the American Medical Association and Wellness Council of America states that more than 75% of doctor, urgent care, and emergency room visits can be handled through a video chat.

More and more drugstores across the U.S. are getting involved in telemedicine by offering telehealth services.

Other drugstore chains are also getting into the telemedicine race. Rite Aid has begun to work with telehealth service provider, InTouch Health, to add telehealth kiosks to their pharmacies. It’s likely an increasing number of stores will continue to implement these services to help better serve their customers. And it seems that many people are more than happy with the care they’re getting through these telehealth options. A CVS Health study noted that more than 95 percent of patients who used the video chats were highly satisfied with the quality of care they received. The same study indicated that 95% of patients were satisfied with the convenience and overall experience of the telehealth option, making it a no-brainer for choosing it in the future.

As telemedicine becomes more mainstream as time goes by, it’s likely more people in the U.S. will have access to quality health care. Patients won’t be limited by their location or whether there are certain medical professionals in their area. Treatment options will be more affordable, because providers won’t be able to charge added fees for office visits or expensive emergency room care. Overall, drugstore clinics and telehealth services like CVS’ MinuteClinic will help to improve both access to and the cost of health care for the whole country.

Telemedicine has been taking the medical world by storm in recent years, and with good reason; it completely revolutionizes the way we practice medicine in the United States of America. Taking its cues from a 1960s initiative that saw doctors linking up with remote patients via telecommunications (which essentially meant ‘phones’ back in the day), telemedicine is a way of providing on-demand health care to patients not just in remote places, but everywhere and anywhere that could benefit from instantaneous communications with doctors and healthcare professionals. As it stands in 2018, telemedicine is almost entirely digitized, and acts as a mediator between patients and doctors. But is it the same in every state in the U.S., and if not, how exactly does the most populous state in the country, the Golden State, deal with it? What is the state of telemedicine in California today?

The first thing to remember when discussing telemedicine anywhere is that it is viewed as a tool in medical practice, not a distinct or separate form of medicine in and of itself. This is very much the case with telemedicine in California, where the utilization and implementation of telemedicine goes back to 1992. That year, the University of California-Davis progressed a telemedicine program based around monitoring fetuses, especially designed for rural communities, which saw a link between the UC Davis Medical Center and a Colusa community hospital. Based on the success of that initiative, Sacramento-based Kaiser Permanente launched a home telemedicine program, while Blue Cross of California and the prison system followed their lead by introducing their own specific telemedicine programs.

Telemedicine is viewed as a tool in medical practice, not a distinct or separate form of medicine in and of itself.

In response to this growing demand, the California government decided that new legislature was needed, and a few years later, it passed the Telemedicine Development Act of 1996. This Act set much of the groundwork for the way telemedicine is practiced in the state today, and although it is a relatively new phenomenon in the field of medicine, this important piece of legislature was crucial in getting it up and running in a safe and legal manner. It imposes a few baseline requirements, such as health care plans not necessarily requiring face-to-face contact between patient and doctor (telemedicine in a nutshell), and that every patient on the receiving end of telemedicinal care must sign a written consent form.

A few years later, as digital technology continued to increase and improve, the state of California doubled down on its telemedicine bills and created a new one: The Telehealth Advancement Act of 2011. This Act clarified several definitions in relation to telemedicine in the state, and also expanded the initiative to include the term ‘telehealth’, which provided an umbrella term for telemedicine in general. Most importantly of all, it mandated private payer remuneration for telehealth services, which was a major boost for both patients and doctors alike. It also decreed that meetings between patients and doctors didn’t necessarily have to take place in licensed health care facilities. With this, telemedicine in California became more widely available, and set the framework for expedited growth in the years to come. In a few states, a person-to-person physical exam is required before a doctor and a patient can begin treatment via telemedicine; this is not the case in California, where relationships may be established solely through telemedicine and remain legitimate.

A number of different practitioners can provide telemedicinal care in the state of California – they just have to be licensed under Division 2 of the state’s Healing Arts statute. This remit includes doctors, nurses, chiropractors, midwives, dieticians, nutritionists, dentists, and more. The type of telemedicine available in the state is wide and varied, and can be applied to almost every form of health care available. Everything from clinical consultations to medical marijuana from sites like MMJ Recs constitutes telehealth, bringing California way ahead of the curve when it comes to the initiative. California is also a huge state; this makes it a perfect area to benefit from telemedicine’s other major advantage – the widening availability of specialists.

A number of different practitioners can provide care via telemedicine in California.

Previously, especially in rural areas, patients were limited to seeing the specialist who was nearest to them. As many conditions require a specialist, whether they appear serious or not, this was severely limiting for some patients, who might not have had the opportunity to shop around for a specialist that suited them, by necessity of their location. In 2018, there is a huge range of specialists available via telemedicine, and they’re not limited the nearest one available. On top of that, patients can engage with specialists when and where they want to, as opposed to being put on a long list for a physical visit that could be months or even years away.

All in all, the future for telemedicine in California looks bright. Hopefully some other states will start taking some cues from the Golden State, and incorporate its embracing and acceptance of telemedicine into their own programs.

Telemedicine is one of the great inventions of recent decades. This new form of medicine is improving the lives of millions of people in numerous ways. One of the major ways in which telemedicine makes the lives of patients better is that it hugely improves their choices when it comes to health care.

Here are six ways telemedicine improves a patient’s range of choice.

Geographic Location

Geography and distance matter less than ever before thanks to the advent of telemedicine. It is now easy for patients to choose to consult with physicians in far-off locations using telemedicine apps. Telemedicine allows patients to have consultations with medical professionals in distant parts of the country or even the world. The fact that geography and distance are now so much less of an impediment means that patients have a tremendously wider range of choice of which medical practitioners they consult with. Telemedicine has made the world a much smaller place.

Money Saving

Telemedicine affords patients far more scope for money-saving. When using conventional medicine, patients are likely to need to pay more because they only have access to a relatively small number of medical professionals. Telemedicine opens the market up and allows patients to choose from a far wider selection of medical professionals. A market operates best when there are no barriers to entry and competition is fierce. When providers of medical treatment are operating in a highly competitive market, they are forced to provide the best service possible for the most economical price. The healthy competition that telemedicine fosters gives patients a far wider choice and makes money-saving easier than ever.

Saving money on health care is made easier through the advent of telemedicine.

Rare Treatments

Using traditional medicine is inherently limiting in terms of the types of treatment it leaves open to a patient. When a person uses telemedicine, they have a far wider range of choices of what types of treatment they would like to avail of. This wider list of possible options includes rare, novel, and experimental treatments. Rare treatments are, by their very nature, only available from a few sources. Many groundbreaking types of medical treatment are only offered by a small handful of specialist doctors. Often a rare and experimental treatment is the best possible option for a patient. Telemedicine allows people to avail of rare and experimental treatments much more easily.

Time Saving

Before the advent of telemedicine, receiving medical treatment was often a very time-consuming undertaking. People had no choice but to travel long distances, wait in waiting rooms, attend multiple in-person consultations, visit pharmacies again and again, and generally devote tons of precious time to the business of receiving medical treatment. Telemedicine has changed all this. Thanks to telemedicine, patients now have the ability to choose treatment methods that are far less time-consuming, such as remote consultations. Telemedicine makes long journeys to hospitals and surgeries far less necessary in many cases; it also makes it easy to send test results over the internet. Patients have more time-saving options than ever before now thanks to telemedicine.

Telemedicine saves time for both patients and medical professionals alike.

Avoidance of ERs and Surgeries

Prior to telemedicine exploding onto the scene, patients were forced to spend long hours queuing up in emergency rooms and doctor’s surgeries, often for quite minor injuries and ailments. Before telemedicine, there was simply no option but to report to ERs and surgeries and waste precious time waiting to be seen by a doctor. ERs and waiting rooms tend to be hothouses of germs and viruses, and many a patient has left one of these places sicker than when they arrived! Telemedicine has changed this situation for the better. Telemedicine has made it possible to perform a lot of medical consultations that previously would have required an in-person visit remotely from the comfort of your own sick bed. Having the choice to not make the time-consuming trek to a germ-filled ER or surgery has hugely improved the lives of many patients.

Work Schedule

It used to be the case that when a person got ill to the extent that they required a visit to the doctor, they would almost certainly need to take a day off work. Even if a person was feeling good enough to work, a doctor’s appointment often meant they would need to use up a precious “sick day.” This was an unfortunate situation. Very often, the only thing necessitating that a person take the day off was the fact that they had to attend a time-consuming doctor’s appointment. Thanks to telemedicine, this situation has changed for the better. Telemedicine consultations can now be done so quickly that if a patient desires to attend work on the same day, they easily can. This gives patients the choice to stay home from work if they really need to, but also to attend work if they would prefer to do so.

Telemedicine has become hugely popular in the United States. It is improving the lives of a vast amount of people. But not everybody is availing of it yet. However, the number of people using telemedicine is increasing all the time, and surely it is only a matter of time before everybody uses telemedicine in one form or another.

Here are seven reasons some people don’t use telemedicine… yet.

Some people are still unaware of telemedicine’s existence

Despite its recent explosion in popularity, many people who do not have a finger on the pulse of modern technological advances are still unaware that telemedicine is a viable option for them. With a busy family life and career, it can be difficult for many people to find the time to stay up-to-date with cutting-edge developments in modern technology. This is unfortunate and ironic, because when people discover telemedicine and begin to use it, it usually saves them a ton of time – time they could spend educating themselves on the wonders of modern technology! This lack of awareness will gradually go away as more and more people become avid telemedicine users and spread the word amongst their friends and family.

Telemedicine might seem like a daunting concept to older people who don’t have a solid understanding of technology.

There is still a widespread lack of understanding of technology

Many people who did not grow up using technology find modern telecommunication devices such as smartphones and tablets awfully confusing. Many baby boomers believe that using telecommunications technology is more difficult than it actually is, so they are resistant to attempting to learn about it. This lack of understanding of technology prevents people from using telemedicine. This issue will go away as devices become more and more intuitive and user-friendly and as more people cotton on to the overwhelming benefits that come from being at least modestly techno-literate.

Some people have a distrust of technology

Technophobia is a very real thing. Especially when it comes to their health, many people still believe that technology is unreliable, risky, and error-prone. This means that people are hesitant to use telemedicine and would rather stay with what they know. This distrust will slowly filter out of the population as people realize that their wellbeing, health, and safety are already thoroughly dependent on modern technology, and that, in reality, humans are far more prone to error than machines.

The U.S. still has inconsistent broadband availability

According to broadband mapping, many areas of the United States lag well behind the average in terms of broadband speed and price. Internet access and speeds still vary dramatically across the nation. For people who live in areas with inconsistent, overly expensive, or slow broadband, telemedicine is sometimes not a viable option. This problem will soon be overcome as broadband technology improves and companies vie to outdo each other by providing faster and faster connections to every region in the country.

Many people prefer the sense of trust embedded in face-to-face interactions with medical professionals.

Some people prefer face to face communication

It is a natural human instinct to desire face-to-face communication and connection, especially in times of stress. Reassurance is often more effective when given face-to-face. While telemedicine may be cheaper, less time-consuming, and less error-prone, people still place a very high value on in-person communication and the feeling it gives them. This desire for face-to-face communication, especially in times of stress, is not going to leave human beings anytime soon (and surely we wouldn’t want it to), but people will become more willing to forgo it when it becomes common knowledge than telemedicine, while often being less personable, is actually a more efficient way to acquire the best medical treatment available.

There are still limitations to telemedicine technology

While communications technology, and along with it telemedicine technology, is improving at an exponential rate, there are still many limitations. Many medical conditions are still not well suited to being treated remotely using telemedicine. It is still necessary to visit emergency rooms and doctor’s surgeries for many kinds of medical conditions and ailments. This will certainly remain the case for the foreseeable future. However, as technology improves, more conditions will become treatable remotely using telemedicine.

People still feel loyalty to their local family doctors

Many Americans have been visiting the same trusty, friendly family physician for decades, and so they feel a strong sense of loyalty. This is a nice thing. But it is hard to know if it will continue in perpetuity as telemedicine grows in stature and it becomes hard to argue that using telemedicine is not the most efficient way to get medical conditions treated. Will people’s sense of loyalty trump their desire to be as healthy as possible and to live as long as possible? It’s hard to imagine that this sense of loyalty is limitless. There will surely come a time when the case for telemedicine is just too strong to ignore.

Telemedicine is continuing to transform the world of health care with every passing year. Patients are able to easily connect with physicians or specialists through the use of video or online chats and can access more effective treatment plans by using technology to transfer their records and medical data. There are several changes that will take place in the next 12 months and are likely to have a positive effect on both patients and medical professionals. Here’s a look at some of the telemedicine trends that will occur over the next year.

Increase in people who use telemedicine

Telemedicine is a quickly growing field and has been making great strides for the last several decades. As more doctors, hospitals, and health care providers begin to use telehealth platforms, those numbers will only continue to grow in 2019. According to a recent report, around 7 million patients used telehealth measures in the U.S. in 2018. That’s up from 350,000 patients in 2013 – which is actually a 19,000% increase in just five years. This number is only expected to grow in the future as more people use telehealth services for various medical needs (from managing a chronic condition to consulting a physician about an injury).

More access to specialists

As telemedicine measures are used by more people, there will be increased access to physicians and specialists. Regardless of where they live, people can connect with medical professionals to help with diagnoses or treatment plans. More and more doctors using telemedicine means that the network will continue to broaden. This means that patients could even seek help from physicians internationally, ensuring that they’re always getting the best care regardless of their location. More access will lead to a wider knowledge base (especially with chronic or rare conditions) that can only benefit patient care in the future.

At the pace it’s currently moving, telemedicine is set to keep advancing quickly over the next twelve months.

Better remote services

An increasing number of health care companies are expanding their remote services in a variety of fields, including dermatology, mental health, addiction treatment, stroke care, and many others. These services, which can be conducted without patients having to make in-person visits, can be cost-saving and can increase the chances a patient will have of receiving timely care. Currently, more than half the hospitals in the U.S. offer some type of telehealth options for their patients.

Remote services also allow for shorter wait times at doctor’s office waiting rooms and emergency rooms (since patients with non-life-threatening cases can connect with a physician remotely via a video chat). In fact, according to statistics from the American Medical Association and Wellness Council of America, more than 75% of doctor, urgent care, or ER visits could be handled effectively through a phone or video chat.

Increased ability to share records

As a larger number of companies are relying on technology to improve their patient care, telemedicine is helping by allowing medical professionals to more easily and efficiently share records and test results with colleagues and specialists, regardless of distance. Patients then receive better care because it’s so easy for information to be shared within a treatment team or if the patient is transferring to another physician. Improvements in telehealth technology also mean that patients have more convenient access to their own medical records and test results online.

More telemedicine coverage from insurance companies

In the last several years, more than 29 states have already required health insurance coverage for patients who were using telemedicine. In 2015, more than 25 states mandated that patients had to be reimbursed for services from telemedicine. More telehealth measures face Congress every year for even more coverage throughout the U.S. Right now, all Medicaid agencies cover at least some form of telehealth services. There’s also been an increase in employers offering telemedicine options. Since insurance companies are quickly learning that telemedicine can save them money, it will surely only be a matter of time before these options are fully covered in all 50 states, for a variety of treatment services.

Patients and doctors alike will benefit from many of the upcoming developments in telemedicine.

Further acceptance

The more the public (and the government) is able to see the vast improvements in health care due to telemedicine, the more widespread the practice will be. A larger number of doctors and hospitals will rely on telemedicine to provide care, and it will be more common for people to use telemedicine options instead of visiting a physician or hospital in person. In the future, it’s likely that telemedicine will become an even more accepted and valued element of health care, becoming something that most people will depend upon when getting treatment. Patients are already all for using telemedicine – a recent study showed that more than 74% of people would be open to treatment through this method.

As a growing trend in health care, telemedicine will soon be more accepted and widely used in the future. As patients look for more accessible and convenient health care options, telemedicine is perhaps the best answer for better care and treatment.

During this year, many strides have been taken to implement more telemedicine services throughout the U.S. Patients have been more able to rely on remote options and video chats with physicians to help augment their treatment. They’ve also been receiving care for a wide variety of conditions and illnesses (with help from diagnosing the flu to developing a fast treatment plan during a stroke event). There are so many advantages to including telehealth options in a patient’s care, so here’s a look at some of the most beneficial aspects of using telemedicine in 2018.

More convenient care

One study notes that nearly 74% of Americans would be willing to use telemedicine services versus seeing their doctor in person. A huge benefit of telehealth is that patients have an easier time getting access to medical professionals. Using online tools like video chats, patients can connect with their physicians when it’s most convenient for them (instead of always having to work around the doctor’s schedule). Doctors are then able to have productive consultations with their patient without all the distractions an office can provide. These communications are more convenient because patients don’t have to wait until their next scheduled appointment if they have questions or concerns. Such convenience also permits patients to report any early warning signs about symptoms they might be worried about. This makes telemedicine a great option for encouraging individuals to maintain regular check-ins with their doctors, as well as supporting the careful monitoring of a patient’s condition or overall health.

Access to care for rural patients

Before the advent of telemedicine, patients who lived in remote or rural areas were often unable to get the proper care they needed. Many doctors or hospitals were just located too far from their residences. However, now telemedicine has created a way for patients to connect with doctors and specialists easily – as long as they have the Internet, they can access medical treatment. More access equals a greater chance of properly diagnosing and treating many serious conditions and creating more treatment parity for rural patients.

Ease of access is one of the primary benefits of telemedicine in 2018.

More access to specialists

It used to be that many people were limited in their treatment options because of where they lived. Nowadays, telemedicine is able to connect patients with the appropriate physicians they need, no matter their location. This means there will be improvements in the care of people who didn’t have direct access to the proper specialists before. Patients with specific needs or with rare conditions now have the ability to communicate and work with medical professionals throughout the country. They’ll be receiving the best care possible, even if they don’t live near the specialist.

Quicker treatment options

Another huge benefit of telemedicine is that patients can access quicker care because of this technology. Many telehealth measures mean that physicians can diagnose and treat a patient in minutes (versus a long waiting time at the ER or to get in to see a doctor). This fast treatment can literally be lifesaving for critical conditions like strokes or heart attacks. Telemedicine also eliminates some of the red tape surrounding health care – treatment teams can more easily communicate and collaborate with each other in the patient’s best interests. Medical records and test results can also be sent quickly online and through databases, so there’s less waiting time during that stage of the patient’s care.

More streamlined care in doctor’s offices and ERs

If more people use telemedicine, the care patients receive during in-person visits will also improve. In fact, statistics from the American Medical Association and Wellness Council of America state that more than 75% of doctor, urgent care, and emergency room visits could actually be handled effectively through a phone or video chat. If patients with non-critical injuries or illnesses can be taken care of with video chats, that leaves the in-person visits for more serious or life-threatening cases. This change means that not only would patients receive more streamlined and quicker treatment when they actually go in person to a doctor’s office or an ER, but also that wait times for these places would be shortened. This results in patients getting faster, more efficient, and more effective treatment when they need it.

In 2018, if you have a smartphone and an internet connection, all the benefits of telemedicine are available to you.

Lower costs for patients

A great advantage of telemedicine is that patients can save money by turning to telehealth options instead of in-person visits. These options can be cheaper because doctors don’t have to charge for office fees or other add-on costs. Patients can also save money on transportation costs they’d have to shell out if they needed to get to an office. Likewise, physicians, hospitals, and insurance companies have all seen decreases in their costs because of more patients using telemedicine to receive treatment.

With more patients using telemedicine, a new trend has emerged of patients being more involved in their care and more engaged with their own health care. This can lead to patients being more likely to opt out of harmful behaviors (like unhealthy eating or smoking), which can result in an overall improved healthiness. People who are leading healthier lifestyles will also end up lowering health care costs both for themselves and for the population at large. There are many beneficial aspects of telemedicine that are only continuing to make major improvements in the health care field.

The U.S. is currently facing a huge opioid epidemic that seems to only be growing worse with time. Nearly 115 people die from opioid-related overdoses every single day in the U.S., which actually makes it the leading cause of death for people under the age of 50. More than 97 million people have used prescription painkillers (like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and fentanyl) in the last year, either because they were prescribed them by a physician or due to recreational street use. Two million of these people are considered dependent on opioids. If more serious steps aren’t taken to combat this trend, health experts estimate that over 500,000 people could die from opioid overdoses in the next 10 years.

As the nation is learning more about the rising abuse of opioids, the federal government has tried to take some action by pushing through stricter drug enforcement measures. There has also been a call for doctors to write fewer prescriptions for painkillers – thus, preventing opioid addiction before it can even get started. However, experts believe it will take at least a few years before these measures can have any type of true impact. So, what else can be done in the meantime?

It turns out telemedicine options can actually help combat the rising rates of opioid addiction. Several programs are launching around the country that bring together all types of medical professionals (physicians, nurses, social workers, etc.) to help gain important knowledge from addiction specialists and psychiatrists. The ECHO (Extension for Community Health Outcomes) program was established several months ago as part of the Office of Telemedicine/Telehealth at Virginia Commonwealth University’s VCU Health system. This program, funded by grant money from the Virginia Department of Health, works by holding sessions on connected platforms to help medical professionals learn and communicate with each other in a collaborative environment. Each of these sessions allows between 25 and 40 providers to participate in video sessions to get educated about current trends and treatments in the field of addiction treatment.

Dr. Vimal Mishra, the medical director and principal investigator for the program, says, “It’s a fantastic way of delivering health care in a learning environment. This is where the future of public health begins.”

The key to reducing the opioid epidemic could lie within telemedicine.

One of the ways this type of telemedicine can be even more helpful is the fact that providers from rural or remote areas can participate and learn from the video sessions, no matter where they’re located. Providers can be up on the latest treatment options even if they live far from addiction specialists or treatment centers. These under-served rural areas are often where addiction treatment is needed the most.

ECHO focuses on educating providers on various treatment options, including Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT). MAT is a treatment plan that uses opioid treatment programs (OTPs) to combine both behavioral therapy and medications to help treat substance abuse disorders. This type of treatment helps providers view the patient as a whole, instead of treating various elements of the addiction. The use of medications (like methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine) work to block the effects of narcotics while reducing or preventing withdrawal symptoms.

Without the use of a program like ECHO, providers in remote areas would either have to learn about new treatment options like MAT through rare clinics held by larger health systems or state health officials. They would often have to convince these parties to travel to rural areas to offer training and education. This means that many areas still aren’t getting the support they need to effectively treat opioid addiction or to help stop the spread of the abuse of these medications.

It seems obvious that these telemedicine programs can be vital in fighting the U.S.’s opioid addiction. More education and communication with specialists would certainly give providers a better chance at treating addiction. Programs like ECHO mean that medical professionals can get access to essential information while fostering a wide community of support for treatment providers. Mishra states, “I feel like I’m learning something not only from the expert who’s sitting beside me, but also from the community. We’re all learning together. This is value-based care.”

Opioid education programs delivered via telemedicine could play a huge role in decreasing this problem in the U.S.

However, these programs are still facing some uphill battles in terms of wider support and funding. Because these telemedicine options aren’t provider-to-patient care, but are rather a provider-to-provider system, some companies don’t see the immediate financial benefits of setting up the programs. But, on the other hand, the opioid epidemic is creating a huge impact on the U.S. economy. A study from 2016 stated that opioid overdoses, abuse, and dependence have cost the economy around $78.5 billion. However, the White House stated in late 2017 that the opioid epidemic has cost the U.S. closer to an estimated $504 billion, meaning that the crisis is not only having a huge impact on the nation’s health but also a detrimental effect on its economy.

Mishra suggests that the financiers considering supporting programs like ECHO take a different look at the formula. “It’s not a return on investment, but a return on public health,” he says. “It’s not hard money you’re looking for. It’s about how many people you’re treating in the communities, by their own primary care providers, rather than transferring them to other facilities.”

Mishra brings up a valid point with this. If patients are able to stay in their remote towns and still receive medical care from their own providers, they might be more likely to kick their addiction. Having to travel to bigger cities or meet with new specialists can create an environment that is less conducive to recovery for opioid addicts. Bringing the very best treatment options to rural communities could increase the chance that patients are able to stick to their recovery and avoid relapses.

It’s a fact that programs like ECHO can benefit those seeking treatment from addiction by providing medical professionals with updated and accurate information. Imagine how much it would help the country if even more providers were able to offer better treatment options for individuals, regardless of where they live. It’s obvious that more steps need to be taken to help fight the nation’s opioid addiction, and telemedicine just might be the solution to this frightening epidemic.

Health care has always remained pretty much the same. The basic process of visiting a doctor about concerning ailments goes back centuries, with doctors prescribing medicines and treatment plans they believe will aid in the cure of the disease. Of course, the medicine that medical professionals prescribe has changed significantly over the years, and continues to advance as research and resources expand. But the actual mechanism of health care has largely remained unchanged for many decades. It’s only with the explosion of the internet and digital technologies that health care is seeing a major shift, and as it currently stands, it’s at a tipping point. This new integration of health care and technology is known as telemedicine, and it’s set to totally overhaul the U.S. health system as we know it.

Telemedicine is not a new idea. It began in the sixties as a way of connecting doctors with their patients via telecommunications only. It was an outlier procedure that was useful to a small section of the medical community, but remained largely obscure for many decades. Recently, however, with the explosion of the internet and digital communication in general, telemedicine has reentered the health care sphere, and is currently making a huge impact. Let’s look at four major ways that telemedicine is disrupting the health care industry, and setting up an interactive, consumer-driven future for medicine in general.

Part of making the health care sector more accessible for patients means broadening the reach of specialists.

1. Pushing a Consumer-Based Model

Consumers have already proven they are eager to accept digital technology in many forms, without caring which traditional practices fall sacrifice to it. One prime example of this is Netflix; this multi-million dollar juggernaut has almost completely dispensed with terrestrial television, as people move to a more practical on-demand service. The same is starting to be true of health care, too. Even though most patients wouldn’t consider health care to be a consumer-based service, as anytime you go to a doctor or hospital you’re acting out of necessity, in actual fact, that is what it is. Telemedicine allows patients more options, which essentially hands back the control to the patients, i.e. the consumers. This means that health care can become more focused on the needs of the patients, and even competitive in some branches, which in the long run is a great boon to people availing of it. Everybody knows how much health care costs, with bills sometimes running into hundreds of thousands of dollars; a consumer-based model would be beneficial to the entire sector.

2. Better Access to Specialists

Part of making the health care sector more accessible for patients means broadening the reach of specialists. Usually, family doctors and physicians are unable to help patients with specific diseases and disorders that require a more informed diagnosis. In these cases, which make up the majority of visits to regular doctors, the patient is referred to a specialist, who can then treat their condition with expertise in that particular field. For many decades, patients were assigned to the nearest specialist to them physically, which made sense for both patient and doctor. With the advent of telemedicine, patients are no longer limited to consigning themselves to one specialist, and can instead consult online with the one that suits them best. This is a huge turning point for the health care sector, and its impact on the industry cannot be overstated.

Through telemedicine, patients are able to communicate with their health care professionals via data sharing.

3. Health Care on Demand

Previously, a trip to the doctor could take huge chunks out of a patient’s day or week. Now, with the introduction of telemedicine, the patient can experience health care on demand, on their own terms. This also makes it much easier for patients to schedule in appointments, and saves health care professionals a little bit of admin work on the side. Another benefit is on-demand health care being extremely useful in an emergency. Of course, it’s no substitute for the emergency room, but if unexplained symptoms flare up unexpectedly, you don’t have to wait until the next day to check the symptoms and ease your mind. Sites like MMJ Recs and Moosh also provide patients with specialized prescriptions over the internet, saving time and money.

4. Patients can Aid Doctors with Diagnoses

Through telemedicine, patients are able to communicate with their health care professionals via data, allowing doctors to get a broader view of their patients’ symptoms, and ideally leading health care professionals to a better idea of what they might be dealing with. Unfortunately, it is rare that symptoms will flare up during the fifteen minutes you’re in the doctor’s office, especially if they are on-and-off, or if they occurred some time before you managed to speak to your doctor about them. Telemedicine allows doctors to gather data over a certain period for bodily functions like blood pressure, heartbeat, and other elements that can be remotely monitored. As both health care and telemedicine progress, expect this particular benefit to increase substantially. It’s cheaper, too; several studies have shown that telemedicine saves money for both patients and doctors alike, making it a more economically sound option in what is generally regarded as a potentially expensive business.

Telemedicine continues to improve the world of health care. Now, with the use of technology, people can get better access to treatment for a wide variety of conditions. One of the areas in which telemedicine has been the most successful is the diagnosis and treatment of strokes. In the U.S., strokes are the third leading cause of death, with a stroke patient dying every three minutes. Strokes happen to more than 700,000 patients every year, leaving many with permanent disabilities. Many individuals face a loss of employment or significant changes to their lifestyle. Read on for how these health care measures are helping to change how the U.S. treats strokes.

A stroke, sometimes called a “brain attack,” happens when blood flow is cut off to an area in the brain. When these brain cells are deprived of necessary oxygen and glucose, the cells end up dying. There are two types of strokes: an ischemic stroke, which occurs when clots form in the brain’s blood vessels. The clots can also form in blood vessels elsewhere in the body that then travel to the brain. These clots block blood flow. Around 80% of strokes are ischemic. The second type of stroke is hemorrhagic when a blood vessel in the brain breaks or ruptures. Blood ends up seeping into the brain tissue, which results in damage to the brain cells. This type of stroke can be the result of high blood pressure or brain aneurysms.

The symptoms of a stroke include weakness or numbness of the face, arm, or leg on one side of the body, loss of vision in one or both eyes, loss of speech, difficulty talking or understanding other people, sudden severe headaches, or loss of balance or unstable walking. If stroke patients don’t receive an immediate diagnosis and treatment, there could be permanent brain damage. In more serious cases, death of the patient can occur. Therefore, time is the most important aspect of treatment – the sooner a patient is diagnosed and treated, the better their prognosis will be. Some patients can stave off disabilities caused by strokes if they are given the FDA-approved medication tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) within the first three hours of the stroke occurring.

Thanks to telemedicine, stroke patients are receiving faster, more effective diagnosis and treatment.

Telemedicine is changing the treatment of strokes by implementing programs called telestroke. These programs are run by doctors (usually neurologists) who are able to remotely evaluate stroke victims through digital video cameras, web communications, and robotic telepresence. These doctors work to quickly diagnose the stroke patient and come up with a treatment plan that can best serve the individual – all without needing to physically examine the patient. The telestroke system generally has three elements to it: a brain imaging review, a remote examination, and a web portal for synchronized requirements. Doctors can download and view brain scans from any location to help determine the best course of action for a particular patient. The remote examination is done with video conferencing, where physicians can perform the evaluations to determine the cause and severity of the stroke. This allows them to come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan that can be transferred to whichever hospital or facility the patient is taken to. All of this data obtained from the telestroke program is available through a web portal that lets a team of doctors share valuable information about the patient.

In an interview with Medscape, Dr. Lawrence R. Wechsler, chairman of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, stated that some of the telestroke systems “have CT scans in the ambulance and can give tPA right there and then. Others just use an iPad in the ambulance to connect to the stroke expert.”

One of the biggest ways telestroke can help patients is by assisting individuals who live in remote areas. A recent study estimates that three out of every four counties in the U.S. lack a nearby hospital that has the neurological services needed to effectively treat stroke patients. Telemedicine can therefore provide the very best neurologists on hand to stroke patients – no matter where they live. Thus, people living in rural areas can still access the very best health care options and are much more likely to have a strong chance of recovery.

Advances in stroke diagnosis and care are just one of the myriad benefits of telemedicine.

There’s a growing amount of evidence that demonstrates telestroke measures have been effective in treating stroke patients. Back in 2016, Kaiser Permanente released a study showing that of more than 2,500 people diagnosed with ischemic strokes, there was an almost 75% increase in the timely use of the drug tPA after the patients received a telestroke consult. With telestroke care, patients were also able to get a diagnostic imaging test 12 minutes sooner, while drugs were administered 11 minutes sooner, reducing overall initial treatment times to less than an hour. The study noted, “Particularly in hospitals with limited resources and/or limited access to neurologic expertise, telestroke is an important tool to aid in the evaluation and treatment of potential stroke… Telestroke may aid in triage and transfer decisions and in identifying patients potentially eligible for endovascular intervention or patients who might otherwise benefit from transfer to a stroke center.”

Bottom line: telestroke programs allow stroke patients to have quicker and more in-depth evaluations that can be truly life-saving. Without telestroke measures, many patients would face waiting longer periods of time between the stroke event and making it to the hospital where they can meet with a physician. With instant diagnostic tests and communication with physicians, stroke patients have a much better shot at making a full recovery because of these vital telestroke programs.

While breakthroughs in medical knowledge have been impressively (and wonderfully!) common over the past few hundred years, the way in which medical consultations have been carried out has stayed rather similar throughout this time. Doctors have been treating their patients face-to-face inside their treatment rooms for most of medical history. This has often meant that patients have needed to travel large distances to see a doctor. It also meant that a doctor’s potential patient list was very limited by geography.

But all of this has changed over the past two decades. With the advent of super-fast internet and super-powerful mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, a new way of administering medical treatment has arrived on the scene and changed the medical landscape almost beyond recognition.

Telemedicine has made many things possible today that would have been beyond the dreams of even the most wildly imaginative futurists and sci-fi writers from recent history!

The telemedicine scene is bubbling with innovation and is a truly fascinating space to watch right now. Here are seven ways telemedicine is changing the medical landscape.

Patients Have Far More Choice

Telemedicine has given patients much more choice in which medical professionals they consult with. A patient can choose to be treated by a doctor who is based in another city, state, or even on the other side of the world if they wish. Whereas before patients could only deal with medical professionals located relatively near to them, it is now possible for somebody to be treated by a doctor located a vast distance away. This is a big change for the better in the medical landscape.

ER waiting times are being reduced thanks to telemedicine.

Hospital Emergency Rooms Are Much Less Crowded

Thanks to telemedicine, a lot of medical conditions that are relatively minor but would still have landed somebody in an ER can now be treated remotely. The fact that a lot of conditions that would have required an ER visit in the past are now being treated using telemedicine means that ERs have become less clogged up. This is a profound change for the better, as it means that seriously ill patients who really do need treatment at an ER can be taken care of more quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

Many Medical Consultations Are Much More Time-Efficient

Throughout human history, receiving medical treatment tended to be very time-consuming. Traveling to doctors’ surgeries, queuing up, repeat appointments… All of these things took up a lot of time. This has changed dramatically since the advent of telemedicine. Medical treatment is now far more time-efficient. Travel times have been reduced (in many cases to zero) and queuing in a doctor’s waiting room is now unnecessary in many instances. Telemedicine has made receiving medical treatment much less time-consuming than ever before.

Less Competitive Medical Professionals Are Going Out of Business

Due to the fact that telemedicine allows patients to give their business to medical practitioners in any distant corner or the country or even world, doctors can no longer afford to be lazy and to rely on mere geographical proximity to provide them with a customer base. In today’s telemedicine free market, competition is rife. The best doctors get more and more patients, and other doctors see their businesses die. This is a great thing for patients and the medical industry on the whole.

Tech-savvy medical professionals are leading the way thanks to the advent of telemedicine.

Medical Professionals Are Needing To Be More Tech-Savvy

Telemedicine is developing and improving at a rapid pace. This means that medical professionals are having to study hard to keep up with the technological innovation taking place. Not only do doctors need to keep up-to-date with advancements in medical knowledge, they also need to be highly tech-savvy. This results in an increased workload for medical professionals. But it is surely a good thing for patients, as doctors become more and more highly trained and au fait with the cutting edge of human tech knowledge.

Medical Professionals Can Operate Successful Practices Outside of Major Hub Locations

No longer do medical professionals, especially those who specialize in elective procedures, need to set up their clinics in main urban hubs, such as New York, Chicago, L.A., or Houston, in order to attract patients. Thanks to telemedicine, it is now possible for a doctor to operate from a smaller, more remote location and still attract a lot of clients simply by doing a lot of their consultations (and promotion) online.

Certain Medical Industry Jobs Are Being Lost

Telemedicine is resulting in some medical industry jobs becoming obsolete. This is unfortunate for the people who lose their jobs, but it may well prove to be good for consumers and the industry as a whole as treatment becomes more efficient, more streamlined, and more effective overall.