The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that we all need to practice social distancing, in every aspect of our lives. This includes medical visits and checkups. It has also been advised that all health care providers should offer virtual visits, using a telehealth system of some kind. This will have an impact upon the Covid-19 pandemic in several positive ways.
- Patients Stay Home: All patients that do not have any upper respiratory symptoms, or an emergency medical situation, will be able to stay at home while checking in with your doctor or nurse. This allows you to stay away from people that are infected with the coronavirus. The less contact that we all have with the virus, the less likely we are to get it. The elderly, and the general population that fights with medical issues that lower their immune systems, will be safer from exposure.
- Isolation: One of the best ways to prevent covid-19 from spreading is to isolate anyone that has a confirmed case. Telehealth allows the medical staff the option to check in with isolated patients by using a virtual system. This will keep the staff safe and will limit the amount of exposure that they have to endure. It may not be the most pleasant option for the patient, but it is the best option for the hospital staff, and all the other patients and visitors.
- Costs: Using tele icu will reduce the costs associated with managing a pandemic of this size. Most of the country is fighting with a staffing issue, along with covid-19, and all the variants that are appearing. Overworked medical providers and support staff can lighten their loads by a ton. They will no longer have to check on every patient, spending up to an hour in each room. The advanced machines will monitor the patient’s vitals. This system will allow a couple of nurses the ability to run the unit by checking on patients through one or two monitors that have been set up at the nurse’s station.
- Staff: The staff will have substantially less contact with any people that are infected with Covid-19. This lowers the risk that they have. It also decreases the possibility of spreading the virus to other patients and hospital visitors. The front-line staff members have been working double and triple time in the fight against the pandemic. Telehealth will allow them to safely care for coronavirus patients while keeping their sanity and decreasing the amount of stress that they must deal with on a daily basis.
- Patients: Hospitals and medical staff are in such high demand because of one main thing. The patients. They keep the staff working and the locations doors open. Virtual hospital visits increase the outcomes of patients by a substantial amount. Patients within the hospital will get immediate help over the monitors, and if needed, a staff member can assist them in person. The patients that are at home will still get quality medical care, without having to leave the safety of their own sanctuaries.
Telehealth is being used by many health care providers across the country. The ones that are not, are being pushed by the CDC to do so. Virtual visits are safer for the patients, staff members, visitors, and even the salespeople that come in and out. To some this may seem like an unprofessional way to conduct a medical visit. The reality is that in the end, this will more than likely become the normal way that doctors conduct basic visits and checkups. It is safer for them, safer for you, and safer for the community in which you live.
