Technology is improving the convenience of health care services and making country living more appealing. Years ago, living the country life may have meant giving up access to the best doctors and specialty medical services. As a result, those who wanted such services might have given up their dreams of living in the country and settled for city life. But today, patients can easily have consultations with doctors online through telemedicine. This means that if you opt for country living, you might no longer have to give up access to the level of health care you prefer.
Telemedicine & Benefits
Telemedicine is a means of enabling health care through technologies such as telecommunications and information technologies. This phenomenon actually began more than 40 years ago as a way for hospitals to communicate with those in remote areas and it has quickly been advancing with the emerging technologies via the Internet. Today, you can actually make appointments online and attend a virtual meeting with a health care professional!
To this, telemedicine can lower costs and boosting efficiency. For instance, it can reduce travel and improve time management across the board for both patients and doctors! More, physicians and health facilities can now expand their outreach to new patients who are enjoying country living.
According to the ATA or American Telemedicine Association, there are currently more than 200 telemedicine networks that provide connectivity to more than 3000 sites. With the rapid expansions in the information technology industry it is very likely that expansion and innovations will continue. This means that if you are living the country life, you can look forward to continuous advancements in this service!
How Do Online Consultations Work?
Getting started with your online consultation can be as simple as clicking a link in an email or setting up accounts with online resources from your country home! During your sessions, you may also have the opportunity to use still images and video clips to convey information about your medical conditions.
Remote monitoring of vital signs is also becoming available through telemedicine. This can be used for everything from cardiac and pulmonary monitoring to fetal monitoring.
Research has shown that patients have a high level of satisfaction with these services. And, of course, those living the country life are thankful that they aren’t required to travel long distances and spend long periods of time in waiting rooms to get quality health care. To an end, “country living may be health care in itself” whereby it is known to be a great attribute to good health!
Sources:
Medical Economics: http://medicaleconomics.modernmedicine.com/medical-economics/news/modernmedicine/modern-medicine-feature-articles/telemedicine-patient-demand-c?page=full (accessed Dec 20, 2014)