What is telehealth?
There is no denying that the current healthcare system is undergoing a change and the future promises a virtual healthcare system is driven to deliver quick, effective, and affordable health care. This development has been expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has substantially increased the evolution and adoption of a virtual healthcare system. The current state of telehealth is far from perfect and while it is constantly evolving, the introduction of 5G means telehealth will have the proper infrastructure to scale. Hospitals have accepted this new reality and have already started working on ways to facilitate this shift.
Telehealth uses electronic devices and telecommunications to deliver healthcare services to patients, provide clinical care, diagnosis, treatment, and patient care. Telehealth and telemedicine are often used interchangeably however telehealth encapsulates more varied services under overall health care. Telehealth is a new and disruptive method often viewed as a threat to traditional healthcare systems, but the truth is that telehealth will need to co-exist with traditional healthcare to fully reach its potential. Telehealth can improve response time, bring better patient monitoring, and expand the reach of proper healthcare to all.
The internet has democratized the healthcare industry to a large extent and because of the pandemic, people have realized the importance of telehealth in bridging the gap where traditional health care was not able to. Wearable devices to monitor body vitals are widely used and accepted in the United States. The extension of technology backed by a high-performance telecommunication infrastructure is the next natural transition of the healthcare industry. 5G is the answer to facilitate the evolution of telehealth (Read More).
Benefits of telehealth
- Better patient engagement: Every industry is evolving in terms of their engagement with their users. However healthcare is still dependent on the patient to be physically present in the hospital to get them the care they require. With telehealth, doctors and healthcare professionals can stay connected with the patients using remote monitoring. This eliminates the need for any patient to visit the hospital for every small consultation while also allowing patients to get their regular checkups done within the comfort of their own homes.
- Improved access and care in remote places: Proper healthcare is not available for all and many times patients need to cover large distances to have access to proper healthcare and diagnosis. This issue can be easily solved with telehealth by collaborating with network providers to expand the reach of proper healthcare.
- Reduce operational overheads for hospitals: With effective technology integration and proper investments in communications, hospitals can reduce their operational cost significantly. With telehealth, patients can be attended and preliminary diagnosis can be done virtually. These SaaS integrations are effectively cheaper in the long run and offer better patient monitoring and overall patient satisfaction.
- Newer business opportunities: For telehealth to work properly it will require the support of technology, software, connectivity partners, and network operators. This will create opportunities for new businesses to support telehealth.
What are the prerequisites to telehealth?
- Uninterrupted and high-speed data connectivity: Telehealth will be extremely reliant on high-speed and reliable data and cellular connectivity. Video and voice clarity will play a crucial role in the overall scalability and adoption of telehealth.
- Tech support: Hospitals should insist on 24×7 tech support from their partners to resolve any technical issue. Tech support becomes really important in assisting the patient to effectively use telehealth systems.
- Training and User learning sessions: A product is as good as the user is and this will hold true for the effective use of telehealth. Proper training will help doctors and caregivers get accustomed to the tech and the new way of diagnosis.
- Technology partnerships: Telehealth will require a lot of collaboration and partnerships with vendors for its smooth operation. As a result, facilities will need to develop a more collaborative approach towards these partnerships in order to provide customized and high-performance telehealth services for their patients.
Core to all these futuristic solutions is a seamless communications network with devices being constantly connected with each other. This is where we come in. At Kaytech, we have a team of professional engineers who can help solve your in-building connectivity requirements while also priming it for the era to come thereby giving you a future-proof solution designed specifically for your building and use cases. You can reach out to us directly on our website www.ktcoverage.com or write to us at sales@ktcoverage.com.
