The increased availability and popularity of telemedicine services across the United States is great news for many people and groups. It is a particularly good development for emotional support animal patients. Over the last few years telemedicine has truly revolutionized support for ESA owners, as well people who wish to become ESA owners. It is a very exciting time to be an emotional support animal patient!

Let’s talk about some of the ways in which telemedicine is making it easier than ever before to become an ESA owner and enjoy the wonderful benefits emotional support pet ownership brings.

Telemedicine refers to any type of medicine or medical consultation that is done remotely using modern communications technology. Communication between a health care professional and a patient via smartphone, tablet, laptop, or any other type of mobile device (usually using the internet) is called telemedicine. Super-fast broadband and highly powerful modern computer technology have made it easer than ever before for a patient and their health care provider (who can now be located anywhere in the entire country, or even abroad) to have fast, reliable, high-fidelity, and secure consultations.

Telemedicine brings a whole host of benefits to emotional support animal patients. For those of you who are still in the dark about this health care phenomenon, an ESA is an animal companion that provides company, friendship, love, and a calming influence to a patient who suffers from some form of mental illness. Many different psychological conditions qualify a person to become an emotional support animal owner. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, phobias (such as fear of flying), chronic stress, acute loneliness, or even suicidal thoughts are mental health conditions that qualify a person to become an emotional support pet owner. ESAs have special rights under American federal law. A certified ESA can live with its owner in rental accommodation that is otherwise “no pets allowed.” It can also travel with its owner in the cabin of a commercial airplane. In order to become an emotional support animal owner, a patient needs to get a letter from a registered mental health professional stating that the patient would benefit from owning an emotional support pet.

There are so many benefits to emotional support animals, and thanks to telemedicine, more and more people are able to experience these benefits.

An emotional support animal letter can be acquired by doing a consultation with a registered mental health practitioner, such as Moosh, online or over the phone. For many people, due to their specific life circumstances, getting their ESA letter via a telemedicine consultation is a much easier and better option than going through the time-consuming rigmarole of attending a practitioner’s office in-person.

Getting an emotional support animal letter after having a telemedicine consultation is much easier for the many ESA patients who live in remote parts of the country. For some people, getting to their nearest mental health practitioner requires a long journey by road or even by plane. From some very remote places, a journey to visit a health care provider in person could take an entire day or more. Telemedicine is a lifesaver for these patients.

Some ESA patients also suffer from mobility issues, either relating to their mental illness or not. Many people who suffer with PTSD are also amputees or otherwise long-term disabled. These folks, even with the use of a disabled parking permit, can often still find getting around pretty difficult. For these people, being able to do their ESA consultation over the phone or online is a godsend.

For people whose local mental health practitioner is very busy and has a long waiting list, it can also be a much quicker process to get their support pet consultation done using telemedicine.

Getting a certified support pet has never been easier than in today’s age of technology and telemedicine.

Some folks are just a little bit picky about who they want to discuss their mental health problems with. If they live in a small town in which “everybody knows everybody,” they may prefer the increased privacy and anonymity that comes with consulting with a mental health professional in a separate and distant area via telemedicine.

For a great many ESA patients, it’s really just a matter of saving time. In the modern world a lot of us have very busy schedules, and if we can get a telemedicine consultation – that would usually take a few hours in person – done in 20 minutes online, that is a huge help and a service well worth seeking.

It is also possible to have a consultation with a vet using telemedicine, and for pretty much all of the reasons we’ve just stated (distance issues, more choice, time saving), many ESA patients find it more convenient to use telemedicine for their emotional pet’s veterinary needs.

So it certainly is the case that telemedicine is revolutionizing support for ESA patients. In so many ways, telemedicine is making life much easier for ESA owners, and their pets!

Emotional support animals, or ESAs, are often misunderstood in the media, but the truth is that they are an essential tool that can help people lessen the symptoms of their emotional or psychological conditions. Some people mistakenly feel that an emotional support animal is just a glorified pet, but these creatures can actually help to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and panic attacks. The truth is that as well as being pets, emotional support animals offer a unique form of support to their owners that allows them to live their best possible lives.

The problem with getting treatment from an emotional support animal is that many people who would benefit from them are self-conscious about seeking treatment and are unsure of the best people to speak to in order to get their pets certified. The good news is that, thanks to telemedicine, the process has never been easier.

Telemedicine is the process of delivering health or diagnostic advice through telecommunications technology. While it is experiencing a boom now through the advent of smartphones, it has been used in many guises since telecommunications has been invented. Thanks to smartphones, more and more patients are using telecommunications to access excellent health care, often at more convenience and at more affordable prices.

Emotional support animals can be an amazing form of therapy and treatment for people with emotional disorders.

So, how can you use telemedicine to get an emotional support animal? Well, first you need to know how emotional support animals become certified. To qualify as an emotional support animal, your pet needs an official document called an emotional support animal letter. This can only be obtained from a qualified medical professional, but the good news is that telemedicine completely facilitates you getting your ESA letter.

The first step is that you either make an appointment or “drop in” to an online telemedicine clinic (such as Moosh). You may have to wait to see a doctor in a virtual waiting room, but once you’re in with a medical professional, it’s just like seeing a regular doctor in person. You will use the camera on your phone to speak to the doctor and explain why you need an emotional support animal. They will ask about your condition and how the pet supports you, and you’ll be given an opportunity to discuss the ways in which your pet could act as an emotional support animal and to get advice from the medical professional. Then, if you are deemed suitable, the doctor will provide you with an emotional support animal letter, which will act as a legal document for you to ensure that your emotional support animal receives protection under the law. The letter is signed, stamped, and dated and is valid for one year, so if you wish to continue to register your pet as an emotional support animal, you’ll need to have another appointment to renew your documentation.

There are so many perks to using telemedicine in this way, but the key advantage for many people with the conditions that can benefit most from ESAs is that it allows them to see a non-judgmental medical professional in a way that is convenient for them. Sometimes, medical professionals who are not as educated in emotional support animals can be overly judgmental about people seeking this treatment. In using telemedicine, it is much easier to seek out someone who specializes in this treatment and who is used to seeing and treating people just like you.

In the new age of telemedicine, it’s never been easier to get your pet certified as an emotional support animal.

If you suffer from a condition that makes it difficult for you to leave the house, it’s also very helpful that you can use telemedicine from the comfort of your own home. The paradox is that often, in getting an emotional support animal, you will feel less anxious and more able to leave the house and live a happy and fulfilled life, but your symptoms can often make it very difficult to get the documentation you need to properly access this treatment. When you get a telemedical appointment, you’ll be able to speak to someone openly and honestly from your own home, comfortable in the knowledge that they won’t judge you and they’ll be happy to give you the advice and documentation that you need.

You may already be getting the benefits of an emotional support animal from your regular pet, but if you have the documentation, you’ll be able to get benefits while traveling or renting a home that would not be open to you otherwise. In using telemedicine to access these benefits, you’re empowering yourself to take control of your own life and health with the help of telemedical professionals who want to make sure that patients get the chance to access the medical care that they need without any fear of judgment.

You might be forgiven for thinking that telemedicine is a relatively new innovation. In fact, it’s been around for many years now, albeit in a fairly rudimentary form in the early days. With an ever-growing and increasing amount of technology at our fingertips, advances in telemedicine have been particularly great over the last decade or more. It’s important to remember that telemedicine is not making these advances solely because it can make these advances, in other words just to take advantage of modern technology – it’s making these advances because there is an increasing demand, largely due to the benefits of telemedicine that have been so far demonstrated.

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, people living in remote parts of the States need better and quicker access to medical help and advice. Secondly, the ever-increasing cost of medicine is not only crippling some of our medical centers, but also making it difficult for some folk to afford treatment or health insurance. Finally, there’s that all-important commodity of which none of us seem to have enough… Time! As a patient, it’s time spent making appointments, waiting for appointments, waiting in a doctor’s office, waiting for results, waiting to speak to your specialist… You get the picture: it’s a waiting game! For the medical professionals it’s time spent visiting patients, waiting for input from other professionals, waiting for test results and scans to be sent, carrying out procedures and surgery, and so on.

Telemedicine is being adopted by more and more health care systems in more and more states. There are (aren’t there always?!) a few legalities to be sorted out, but in time it will become even more widespread and multi-faceted. Given our physician shortage, this can only be a good thing. So let’s look at the benefits of telemedicine and the ways it could save you time and money.

The first thing, obviously, is travel time. If you’re able to have a video appointment with your doctor via a smartphone or laptop from the comfort of your own home, there’s no travel time. Imagine that! In some of our rural areas, patients literally have to travel for hours to see a physician, and some patients who are less mobile might find traveling a struggle – so of course the reduced need for travel is one of the most important benefits of telemedicine.

With no travel time, there is no travel expense. So you’ll also save the cost of gas for your car or public transport charges.

It’s never been easier to access medical professionals from the comfort of your own home.

You might have to take unpaid time off work to see your doctor. Another of the many benefits of telemedicine is that many physicians offer video appointments outside of normal 9–5 working hours, so if you can take advantage of this, then there’s no loss of work time. In addition to this benefit, you’re also likely to be “seen” quicker via a video call, therefore treated quicker and back to normal more quickly, with the net result being less time off work.

If you’re waiting for a physical appointment, your illness or condition could worsen. So the quicker you’re seen, the less medication you might need or perhaps the less assistance you might need – either for yourself or in terms of child care.

A current trend in America is for more and more patients to bowl up at an ER with a minor complaint, because the wait to see their physician is just too long. Imagine if, instead of going to the ER with one of these said minor conditions, you were able to get a speedy video appointment. This would free up the ER for real emergencies, which would lead to a reduction in overall costs, eventually resulting (we hope) in lower charges to you, the patient.

Freeing up emergency departments and doctors’ waiting rooms is just one of the many benefits of telemedicine.

With telemedicine making the exchange of data and of opinions between medical experts much easier and quicker, again this will ultimately reduce costs and therefore charges. It could also save you, the patient, valuable time in the diagnosis and treatment of your condition. Imagine a scenario where you have to have various scans, X-rays, etc., all of which need to be looked at and discussed by more than one specialist. Telemedicine allows each of these specialists to receive a copy of all of your procedures electronically, and then to have a video consultation to discuss your condition and treatment. Time and money saved.

Of course, it’s fair to point out that not all illnesses or conditions are possible to deal with remotely. Telemedicine is excellent for psychiatric illnesses and for physical conditions relating to endocrinology, for example, but obviously a video appointment wouldn’t work where an actual physical examination is needed. Telepsychiatry is one area which is definitely on the increase and with an escalation in virtual doctor visits in general; telehealth companies are saying that we will all see benefits and monetary savings.

Telemedicine platforms – a software system – give physicians a secure and well-organized way of practicing medicine remotely. They can keep track of their patients’ health and care more easily; share records and data with other specialists; give out e-prescriptions anytime, anyplace; document all remote patient visits; and send out bills and receive payment electronically by both patients and insurance companies. All of this saves everyone – patients and specialists alike – time and money, and with ongoing developments and advances, the patient can only hope to experience more and more benefits of telemedicine.

Although telemedicine has been around for some time now, it’s only really in the last decade or so that the medical community and patients alike have started to embrace it. Understandable, given that it was very rudimentary in the early days. The potential was there though and obvious to most. With recent advances and developments in technology and with the wider availability of broadband services, telemedicine is finally beginning to show its true colors.

According to recent surveys and to current chat on the subject among the medical community, it’s fair to say that there are mixed views on telemedicine, for reasons that we will outline. Most revealing, though, is a recent national survey that found over 63% of health care providers use telemedicine in some form or other. The general belief is that telehealth can expand a physician’s patient base, is more cost-efficient, and makes it possible to engage better with a patient – which means that a positive outcome is more likely.

When asked for their views, doctors invariably recognize the importance of telemedicine in the running of their daily practice, but believe that it needs more development. They feel that it’s particularly of benefit to their elderly and immobile patients. They also want to have phone calls and video calls seen as part of their service and therefore as something they are reimbursed for.

There are many positive views on telemedicine among the medical community that are relevant to how telemedicine could benefit you. Physicians can see the advantage of virtual visits with patients who are unable to make a scheduled appointment in person. A video call can be instantaneous. Practices lose a lot of revenue through missed appointments; telehealth visits reduce the number of these lost appointments as well as giving patients greater flexibility on when they “see” the doctor.

Telemedicine is revolutionizing medicine – but what do those in the medical community think about it?

Telemedicine is also playing an important part in combating the rise of chronic and acute conditions. Patients with a recognized chronic condition need regular checks and care, and sometimes lifestyle coaching. Acute conditions are often recognizable via telehealth with diagnosis and treatment therefore available more quickly.

Surgeons are also supporting the use of telemedicine in surgical follow-ups. Post-surgery care is invariably crucial to the successful recovery of patients; without good care, readmission to hospital is more likely. Through telemedicine – in particular, via video link – health care providers can easily monitor their patients as they recover from the surgery.

Another area where the medical community is embracing telemedicine is in the field of mental health services. It’s widely believed that there is currently a crisis in American mental health. Telemedicine can expand access to mental health and emotional support services to those in remote areas or those who simply do not have adequate care close by. It’s also often easier for a person who may be suffering from depression or from low self-esteem to speak to a specialist via a video link rather than in person.

A further positive influence of telemedicine is seen to be in the remote monitoring of patients to make sure they are taking their medication or are following specific medical instructions. An example might be the adjusting of insulin based on glucose readings. Again, this not only helps the patient, but also means less time taken in follow-up by the caretaker and less hospital re-admissions.

According to the Pareto law of medical diagnosis, 80% of diagnoses come from the discussion of symptoms and 20% as a direct result of an examination. So telemedicine can be useful in the many situations where a physical examination is not required and also in situations where the patient might simply wish to ask his/her doctor some questions about a non-life-threatening condition or a health need. These services can often be available 24 hours a day, making it easy to see that savings can be made on time, travel, and work-loss hours.

Similarly, medics are quick to recognize the important role telemedicine plays in the running of small and/or remote hospitals. Such hospitals may not have the resources to keep a radiologist or a pathologist, for example, in-house 24/7. Or they may not have a particular specialist in house. Telemedicine allows images to be transmitted to the relevant person anywhere at any time, meaning data can be analyzed and specialists can view ultrasounds and offer an opinion.

Many medical practitioners and patients alike are embracing the technology that makes telemedicine possible.

Some of the negative views on telemedicine offered by the medical community include the fact that telemedicine regulations vary greatly from state to state and can be difficult to interpret. Some physicians simply don’t have the time or the wherewithal to look into the guidelines for their own particular state.

Another unfavorable view is to do with the technology involved. Some physicians feel that their patients may not be computer-literate enough to be able to embrace telemedicine. Others are concerned about the cost of purchasing and setting up the necessary equipment. Training may be required in their practice and possibly the hiring of additional IT staff. Also, with technology of course comes technical glitches, which could happen during a virtual consultation. Some physicians are wary of this.

However, the above potential problems notwithstanding, it’s been found that even if they are perhaps initially hesitant in the use of telemedicine applications such as video appointments, once physicians start using them, they are often very surprised by the versatility of video technology and how it enhances their services.

More and more members of the medical community are coming on board with telemedicine. Guidelines need to be streamlined, technology a little more secure, and the availability of broadband intensified in order for even more people to embrace it. There’s no doubt, though, that telemedicine is the future and that it could have a vital role to play in your own wellbeing.

Telemedicine had an unprecedented year in 2017 and is currently taking the country (and world) by storm. This surge in interest in the new health care trend has been unprecedented in recent times, and this looks set to continue into 2018 and beyond. Despite the current ascent of telemedicine, it is not in fact a new idea; telemedicine has been around for decades. But when it was first introduced, it was only applied in relation to telephone-aided health care, and was seen as an outlier practice, set up to help those people who had trouble getting to a doctor avail of the health care they required.

The lay of the land is quite different sixty-odd years later. Thanks to the rise of smartphones and the prevalence of digital technology everywhere we turn, telemedicine has been able to be incorporated in to the medicinal arena in ways that its inventors couldn’t conceive of, and is now becoming a major initiative in the ever-changing field of health care. Commodities like Netflix and WhatsApp have gotten us used to having things on demand – an instantaneous delivery of the things we want to engage with. Telemedicine operates no differently, and can, in one sense, be thought of as “medicine on demand.”

Doctors everywhere are using telemedicine for the benefit of both themselves and their patients.

This is of course not the only application of telemedicine, but it fits right in with the way the world operates in 2018, and constitutes a large part of why telemedicine is becoming so popular with patients (or potential patients). It gives people access to the health care they require when and where they need it; it also gives doctors more time in the day to attend to more patients, and recommend specialists from anywhere in the country, not just one that happens to be nearby their patient.

Going to a doctor’s office is hassle (and a little intimidating) for most people, but for some people, it’s downright impossible. The primary aim of telemedicine when it was established in the 1950s is still as applicable as ever today, despite the technological advancements. Patients who need to see a doctor but live in remote areas or are physically incapacitated can avail of health care via their smartphones or tablets, without needing to leave their house. They can also be referred to specialists for their specific condition and confer with these specialists without needing to leave their house. Instead of a telephone call, the patients can actually consult with their doctor to “face-to-face” via Skype or FaceTime, leading to better communication between doctor and patient, diagnosis, and treatment.

But telemedicine is not just about doctors and specialists having consultations with incapacitated patients; it is also a new channel for people to be prescribed and avail of medicine, without having to go and physically obtain a prescription. Take the new wave of medical marijuana legalization laws currently sweeping the U.S. MMJ is now legal in 29 states and counting in various forms, and patients can apply for their medicine over the internet, by seeking a certified medical marijuana identification card from reputed sites like MMJ Recs. By providing an online source for increasingly common medicine like medical marijuana, telemedicine is helping to take the heat of the health care system, allowing doctors to see more of the patients they need to consult in person.

Medical data can be transmitted easily via telemedicine, changing the way doctors, patients and specialists interact for the better.

Doctors are also better able to monitor their patients through telemedicine and allow patients to better monitor themselves. It is common practice for doctors to want to keep an eye on heart activity in older patients, yet they could previously only do this sporadically, when the patient came to see them. Through telemedicine, patients are able to send their doctor through any relevant information, or even upload data to the cloud in real time, allowing their medical team to get a broad perspective on their condition, and see if there’s immediate need for further action. Essentially, across many different conditions, the transfer of information is much quicker when it comes to telemedicine, which can only be a good thing when it comes to treating patients.

Ultimately, the practice of telemedicine is slowly revolutionizing the face of health care, and as it becomes more widespread and prevalent, it will surely be the go-to method of consulting your doctor for myriad reasons. On top of all the instantaneous benefits, it also saves the health system and patients money by cutting out administration costs for the former, and axing any travel expenditure for the latter. It also saves both parties time, which is an important factor when dealing with a constantly overworked health care system and diminished resources. When it comes to medical matters, time is the most precious commodity of all; the main benefit of telemedicine is that it saves time, and in the process, might just save more lives. Telemedicine is undoubtedly the future; but it is also the now.

It’s perhaps difficult to get our heads around this fact, but it’s true to say that telemedicine has been with us for nearly a hundred years now. We probably think of telemedicine in terms of video and Skype calls, or the emailing of scans and X-rays – things that could surely only have been available in the last decade or two! In fact, though, one of the earliest forms of telemedicine occurred in the 1940s, when radiology images were transported from one town to another via a telephone line. This was the start of it, but telemedicine has sure come a long way since those days!

The use of telemedicine today has spread rapidly and is now part of the fabric of hospital services, specialty departments, home health agencies, physician offices, and indeed patients’ workplaces and homes. Telemedicine encompasses everything from a simple telephone consultation or Skype call to digital scans and even the remote monitoring of intensive care units. According to the American Telemedicine Association, more than 20 million Americans will have access to a remote health care service by the end of 2017.

Let’s look at exactly why Americans are embracing telemedicine in droves and how telemedicine could benefit you.

Patients who live in remote locations in the U.S. are experiencing great benefits from the advent of telemedicine.

If you live in a rural part of the States, then simply traveling to see a physician or for a hospital appointment can not only be a huge challenge, but can also take up most of your day. Imagine how much time, energy, and money you would save if you were able to speak with your specialist remotely. It wouldn’t work in all cases, of course, but where you don’t actually need a physical examination it could be hugely beneficial.

Another group of people benefiting from the growing availability of telemedicine is the elderly. The number of elderly Americans is increasing year on year and, of course, as you get older, you are generally less mobile and need more care. Also, older citizens might find it more difficult to travel for every appointment, so to be able to speak with a health professional from the comfort of your own home would be a great benefit. Many senior care home facilities are now accessing telemedicine via videoconferencing. Patients can be viewed and observed by a physician in situ (a much more comfortable and amenable experience for them), a diagnosis can be made, and treatments or prescriptions prescribed. If all of this is done remotely it saves time and money as well as the problems associated with getting elderly patients from A to B. Add to those benefits a less harrowing undertaking for the patient and the fact that this type of care results in fewer hospital admissions, and you have an all-round winner when it comes to telemedicine and elderly care patients.

A further telling reason why the U.S. is embracing telemedicine is that there is currently a shortage of physicians in the States. This shortage is expected to worsen over the next few years. The increase of telemedicine can aid this problem simply because it saves time. Physicians can deal with more patients if they are seeing them remotely; appointments aren’t wasted through “no-shows”; consultation and diagnosis tends to be quicker remotely; scans and X-rays can be shared among experts without the need to actually meet in person and discuss the patient. The more consultations, treatments, and diagnoses of less serious complaints that can be done via telemedicine, the more time the professionals have to treat serious illnesses and conditions. We all benefit from that, right?

From patients right through to health care professionals themselves, telemedicine is providing a huge host of benefits.

Imagine, too, if a physician wanted to take on a new partner. He or she might need to carry out renovations or building works in order to add a new treatment room to accommodate this new partner. There’s an immediate expense, which would only in time be passed onto you, the patient. But if this physician could simply employ a new partner to work remotely with patients, they would only need a desk, a phone, and a laptop. Job done immediately and with little cost! Physicians from the same practice could work rotating schedules, thereby making someone available during out-of-work hours. Again, this allows the practice to treat more patients and gives the patients greater flexibility in accessing help and advice. Something that’s surely of interest to everyone – not least employers, as it means less appointments and consultations during working hours.

Health insurers have perhaps been dragging their heels a little in embracing telemedicine culture, but more and more private insurers are now starting to cover telehealth services. Many states are also coming on board by introducing laws and guidelines. The extent of insurers’ cover varies greatly at the moment and some employ geographical restrictions, so there’s a way to go yet, but we are heading in the right direction. The more health insurance companies that offer cover for telemedicine services, the more the services will be promoted and therefore used by patients. Most insurers can see the advantage for their rural members and some of the more far-sighted companies can see that telemedicine cover might attract businesses who want to offer a modern-day convenience as part of their employee package. Insurers are also hoping that telemedicine will mean less of their members ending up in the more expensive health care scenarios. This is all good news for the consumer. Less costs for our health insurer will mean lower premiums for us.

As you can see, there are many compelling reasons why the U.S. is embracing telemedicine and many ways that telemedicine can be of benefit to you, the consumer. As technology improves, these benefits will surely become even more apparent to us all.

Over the last decade or so, both telemedicine and medical cannabis have exploded in popularity and viability. To the average layperson, “telemedicine” and “medical marijuana” were relatively unknown terms until well into the noughties, but both are now buzzwords, firmly established in the lexicon and synonymous with forward-thinking, cutting-edge health care.

Telemedicine is the catch-all term for any patient/health care professional consultations done remotely using modern communications technology. Telemedicine has been made not only possible, but easy, by the advent of super-fast broadband and powerful smartphone and mobile device technology. Thanks to telemedicine, it is now possible to consult with a health care professional anywhere in the world in seconds from the comfort of your own home.

Medical cannabis has become the treatment du jour for many medical conditions. Its meteoric rise over the last decade has roughly (and coincidentally?) paralleled the rise of telemedicine over the last few years. Medical marijuana is now legal in almost half of US states. It is used to treat a wide range of conditions and symptoms, from chronic pain to insomnia to anxiety.

Telemedicine has made access to MMJ so much easier for so many patients.

The rise of telemedicine has obvious and massive advantages for medical cannabis patients. And the rise of medical marijuana has surely helped to facilitate and fuel the rise of telemedicine. In telemedicine and MMJ, we can witness two glorious (and initially separate) revolutions melding together and merging into one, big, beautiful “new world order.” Hallelujah!

Here are six ways that telemedicine has made medical marijuana patients’ lives a lot easier.

Telemedicine Does Away With the Need to Queue in the Doctor’s Waiting Room

Many people end up ill (or double-ill) as a result of the time they have to spend waiting in a germ-filled doctor’s waiting room. For many cannabis card-holding patients whose medical conditions may be chronic or psychological (and who may otherwise be totally healthy), catching a flu or stomach bug is hugely inconvenient, but thanks to telemedicine, it’s now also totally unnecessary. Doing your MMJ consultations via telemedicine means you can stay out of the doctor’s waiting room and away from the contagious germs of other people.

Telemedicine Allows Much Greater Choice of Which Doctor to Consult With

Not all physicians have cottoned on to the benefits of medical marijuana card usage. Some conservative “dinosaur doctors” still believe cannabis is for stoners and would rather prescribe liver-dissolving, depression-inducing, libido-sapping synthetic drugs to their patients instead of natural, healthy medical herb. If your local doctors are mostly of this ilk, telemedicine allows you to bypass them and connect with more forward-thinking physicians in cyberspace.

Telemedicine Provides Ease of Access For Patients Who Struggle With Mobility

For medical cannabis card holders who have conditions that involve chronic pain, stiffness, or a lack of mobility, or for patients who require the use of very strong, indica-dominant MMJ strains that result in “couch-lock,” getting to the doctor’s office can be very difficult. So for people in this situation, being able to consult with a doctor using telemedicine from the comfort of their own home is a godsend.

If you’re a medical marijuana patient, you’ll experience a whole range of benefits due to the rise of telemedicine.

Telemedicine Means Massive Time Savings

Many medical marijuana card holders lead hectic and busy lives, juggling young families with high-octane careers that require a ton of time, energy, and dedication. For these folks, time is an extremely rare and valuable resource. Wherever they can save time they will, and telemedicine allows them to do this in a big way by avoiding the hour-munching chore of driving to the doctor’s office, twiddling their thumbs in the waiting room queue, and then making small talk with their dithering old family doctor – and all of this before finally getting down to business! A telemedicine consultation is much faster than a conventional, in-person consultation, and so it can save a patient with a hectic schedule valuable time.

Telemedicine is Best For Emergency Prescriptions

There is nothing worse than running out of MMJ at an inopportune time (over the holidays, for example). If you need an MMJ prescription in a hurry, or at a time when the local doctor’s office is closed, then the best way to do this is to use telemedicine. Using telemedicine, you can consult with a physician at any time of the day or night and get that valuable prescription you need. Unfortunately this does not guarantee that the local dispensary will be open, but at least you’re halfway there!

Telemedicine is Ideal For Patients Who Live in a Remote Location

For cannabis card patients who live in the wilderness, far from any doctor’s office, telemedicine makes life a heck of a lot easier. Consulting with a physician via smartphone from the comfort of your own Appalachian log cabin is so much easier than jumping into your jeep (or two-seater seaplane) and making the long trek to the nearest urban settlement to consult with a doc face to face!

Modern technology has revolutionized our lives. With the advent of smartphones, we have access to a range of services in our pockets. Hungry? Order takeout via an app. Need your brows fixed or a quick mani/pedi? There’s definitely an app for that. We track our steps, monitor our diets, and interact with friends via the little machine in our handbags, but did you know that there’s a way to take mobile health care to the next step? Telemedicine is the next new frontier in health care.

While it’s been around for over a hundred years, telemedicine is having a contemporary renaissance thanks to mobile technology. Simply put, telemedicine is the diagnosing and treating of patients via telecommunications technology. It is empowering patients around the globe to seek excellent health care at a fraction of the cost and at far more convenience to them.

How can one access telemedicine? Luckily for patients, there are several options available. It is possible to sign up with certain services to avail of unlimited health care at a flat monthly fee. Other services charge per appointment but it is up to each patient to pick the option that works best for them. The best thing about telemedicine is that it is easy and convenient. Traditional doctors may often only see patients during office hours, which means that it can be difficult to schedule an appointment if you work a busy and demanding job. With telemedicine, you will be able to see a doctor as and when it suits you.

Most people have a smartphone these days – which means most people can benefit from the convenience of telemedicine!

While it may seem unorthodox, the process of a telemedical appointment is actually very simple. Depending on the service you choose, you will either make a pre-set appointment at a time that works best for you or hang out in a virtual waiting room until a doctor is ready to see you. When you’re both ready, you’ll begin a video or audio consultation where you’ll speak openly with your doctor about your issue, just as you would with an in-person doctor. Depending on the issue at hand, you will either finish your consultation with professional advice or you can ask your doctor to fax or email a prescription to the pharmacy of your choice. No muss, no fuss, and everything is taken care of for you.

A benefit of telemedicine is that it is usually cheaper than traditional doctor’s visits. Increasingly, many insurance companies are also covering telemedical appointments, but this will depend on the specific plan that you have. In addition, if you are infirm, it is far easier to access a doctor via telemedicine than to leave the house, risking further injury, or to pay an extra fee for a doctor to visit your home.

One of the main ways that telemedicine is currently being used is for the female contraceptive pill. The nature of the contraceptive pill requires women to undergo a simple blood pressure check when they need their prescription renewed after six months. However, with telemedicine, this arduous process no longer exists. Women can fill out a simple survey online and then visit their pharmacist for the blood pressure check and then get their contraception.

Your pharmacist and telemedical professional can work together to make health care easier for you.

Another use of telemedicine comes in the form of counseling and therapy. While going to see a psychologist is necessary for many people in today’s stressful world, it is inaccessible to many due to the financial strain. However, there are now apps and websites that offer remote psychotherapy via phone calls, video chats, and instant messaging at reduced rates so that patients can access treatment as and when they need it. In this way, telemedicine is changing lives and making things far easier and convenient for patients.

The best thing to do if you’re thinking of beginning a journey on telemedicine is to pick a service that will allow you to keep all your medical records in one place. While you won’t always be able to see the same doctor, a centralized records system means that no matter which doctor you see, they will always have the correct information on hand from your past consultations to be able to offer you the best advice possible.

It may seem like telemedicine is a weird way to access medicine, but it truly is the way of the future. Why wouldn’t you pick an option that affords you flexibility and costs less? Telemedicine puts the power in the hands of the patient and removes the high cost of appointments and high stress that many patients face while visiting a traditional doctor’s clinic. The best thing to do is try it for yourself and see how it goes. You’ll be pleasantly surprised, with more money in your pocket and another app to add to your phone’s collection. What’s not to love?

Everybody, no matter what their current level of fitness may be, can improve their cardiovascular health. Whether you are overweight and out of shape, or an “exercise junkie” who hits the gym daily and enters bodybuilding contests, it is always possible to find ways to improve your cardiovascular health with gradual, incremental, worthwhile changes.

Improvements in cardio health, from whatever your starting point, will always lead to massive improvements in your quality of life. With better cardio you will be healthier, more energetic, happier and more emotionally stable, and your quality of sleep will improve. If you are at the high end of the fitness and mobility spectrum, improved cardio may mean the difference between a silver and a gold medal. If you are currently at the lower end of the spectrum, improved cardiovascular health might eventually mean you can retire your Zimmer frame or afford to use your disabled driving permit a little less.

No matter what your current level of health and fitness may be, making improvements in your cardio capability is guaranteed to bring huge benefits to your life. Here are six ways to improve your cardiovascular health.

Quit Smoking

This one seems (and is) so very obvious. But unfortunately there are still a great many people who succumb to puffing on “cancer sticks” on a regular basis. Nicotine is highly addictive, as anybody who has ever had a smoking habit can attest. Whether you smoke a whole pack a day, or only “the odd one or two” after meals or when relaxing with friends or a drink, every cigarette is making painful disease more likely, and ravaging your cardiovascular health. Smoking is heinous for your health and it destroys your quality of life. If you smoke, even “one or two,” quitting is one of the most beneficial ways to improve your cardiovascular health. It’s difficult, but you CAN do it!

Yoga is a low-impact form of exercise that has a huge range of health benefits, including cardiovascular ones.

Take Up Yoga

Hitting the yoga mat is brilliant for stamina and flexibility, and is another of the most effective ways to improve your cardiovascular health. Holding a yoga pose – whether it’s something simple and basic that a beginner can do, or some bizarre contortion that only the bendiest of human beings can even begin to manage – builds strength and endurance. There is a big focus on deliberate, controlled, deep nose breathing in yoga, and this mixture of physical work and concentrated breathing is wonderful for cardiovascular health. Yoga is suitable for the very fit or the very unfit, and can bring a world of difference to your overall health.

Run

The beauty of running is that you can do it at any level of intensity and it will always be of benefit to you. Running is excellent cardiovascular training. Whether you take a slow, relaxing jog or embark on an epic marathon peppered with hill sprints, running at a level that feels appropriate and healthy for you will always be one of the best ways to improve your cardiovascular health. So don your running shoes and hop to it!

Go Walkies

A simple walk – whether a brisk march or a slow stroll – will work wonders for your cardiovascular health. Putting one foot in front of the other again and again and again for an extended period of time is one of the best things you can do for your heart, lungs, and entire cardio system. Get walking, folks!

Cycling, whether outdoors or at the gym, is one of the most effective ways to improve your cardiovascular health.

Pedal Cycling

Whether on a regular bicycle outdoors, or on a stationary bike in your home or local health club, cycling is one of the most epically effective ways to improve your cardiovascular health. Cycling at a decent clip puts just the right amount of strain on your heart and lungs, helping them to grow stronger and more functional. The beauty of cycling is that it is very low-impact, meaning your joints are put under little or no strain when you do it, so it is well-suited as a form of cardiovascular exercise to people of any age and fitness level. Even if you are relatively immobile, you can still drive to the gym or park and get some great cardio done on a stationary bike or hired bike.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat (or Rowing Machine)

Rowing is another low-impact exercise that is excellent for the cardiovascular system. Like cycling, rowing is very easy on the joints and so can be done by people of any age or fitness level. Even if you have no access to a lake or pond, you can always take a trip to your local gym and spend some time on their rowing machine – you won’t be accompanied by the delightful sound of oars on water, but you will be accompanied by the delightful sound of yourself panting… Which is always a sure sign that you are improving your cardiovascular system!

Telemedicine might seem like a relatively recent phenomenon in health care, but in actual fact, the idea has been around since the 1950s. Back in those days, of course, digital technology didn’t exist; the only mode that existed for housebound or rural patients to access continued health care resources was the telephone, hence the name. When it was first introduced, telemedicine was regarded as a fringe service for the next few decades, albeit one with huge benefits for patients living in remote areas. However, in 2018, telemedicine is being regarded as the next progressive enhancement to sweep through the American health care system.

The reason of this is all down to digital technology. Telemedicine, though it retains the analog name, is no longer an archaic technology benefitting only a few remote patients. With the advent and continued prevalence of the smartphone, it’s becoming so much more than that, and experts forecast that the telemedicine revolution will grow exponentially in 2018 and beyond. It’s no longer just beneficial to patients who have trouble getting to their doctor, either; while it still remains that, it’s so much more simultaneously. Telemedicine is making health care cheaper and faster for everyone involved, including patients, doctors, and specialists. The former can see a medical professional on their own terms, when and where they need to, while the latter can get through more patients in a day and provide better quality care for less cost.

Patients can experience many benefits from telemedicine, and it can help doctors do their job more efficiently too.

So which areas of health care actually use telemedicine? A better way to phrase the question might be, which areas of health care don’t use telemedicine? The prevalence of smartphones and digital technology means that many areas of the expansive network that is the American health care system can benefit from the positives of telemedicine, regardless of whether they adopted telemedicine before. Here are a few of the areas that are receiving major boosts from telemedicine.

1. Mental health

According to statistics, a quarter of adults will battle a mental disorder of some type or another during their life, yet only fifty percent of these people will seek treatment. The reason for these low figures has a lot to do with the stigma surrounding mental health, and how some people who suffer from it spend their time in denial without ever actually acknowledging their issue. Mental illness is also more prevalent in isolated areas, which makes it harder for people to seek out proper care. Another barrier is the cost of mental health treatment, which usually involves a committed treatment program that some potential patients might be scared of committing to for whatever reason.

Telemedicine provides a remedy to many of these barriers, with the practice already having a successful track record in the mental health field over the last twenty years. As telemedicine becomes more widespread, mental health care is set to benefit even further, with the potential to be completely revolutionized by the nationwide adoption of telemedicine. Patients in remote areas will have the constant access to specialists that they require, while sufferers who feel shame and anxiety about stepping foot in a real-life doctor’s office can be eased into treatment from the comfort and security of their own home.

Getting medication and treatments has been made a lot easier for some people through the advent of telemedicine.

2. Prescription services

Going to retrieve a prescription has always been a bit of a drag for most people, but for some, it’s a relative impossibility. Those who are disabled or housebound can’t always make it to a doctor to receive the prescriptions they need. Telemedicine makes it possible for any patient to easily avail of their required prescriptions, as well as making the whole process easier for everyone who takes medication. All you need to do in most cases is download a relative app that you use to keep in touch with your doctor or order your medicine, or alternatively you can order up your prescription from the internet.

“And when talking about “prescriptions,” don’t just think pills, either; prescriptions come in all shapes and sizes, and cover many different varieties of illnesses or conditions. Telemedicine can help with all of them. If you require medical marijuana, you can sign up for an MMJ card at MMJ Recs. If you suffer from a mental condition and think you’d benefit from an emotional support animal, you can get yourself verified at Moosh. Or if you’re disabled or handicapped in any way, and unable to reach a doctor, you can retrieve a disabled parking permit at Dr Handicap.

3. Specialists

Everyone knows that for any condition causing serious worry, your family doctor is merely a gateway to a specialist. Previously, if you lived in a rural or remote area, you’d have to be referred to the nearest specialist to your local area, who might not always be your preferred choice, or even the best option for your condition. With telemedicine, you can choose from a wide range of specialists and not get tied down to one just because they’re convenient. Telemedicine also reduces waiting times, which were previously inordinate, and helps patients see the specialist they require and want in much shorter order.