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Attending an appointment from a location of your preference (e.g., home, work) can save you time and money from the reduced need to travel and take time off from work or other responsibilities. In 2019, virtual care saved Canadians 11.5 million hours and $595 million in avoided travel costs1.
- Overview
- What is telemedicine, and how does it work?
- What types of appointments work well for telemedicine?
- What are the benefits?
- Are there any risks?
- Tips for an effective virtual healthcare appointment
- The bottom line
Telemedicine allows you to access medical care virtually for a wide range of healthcare conditions and concerns. These online visits offer many benefits, including convenience, reduced costs, and greater access to care.
Telemedicine is also called telehealth, evisits, e-health, or mhealth (m is for mobile). It’s the delivery of medical care from a distance. In other words, it’s healthcare that doctors provide virtually, outside the typical doctor’s office setting and face-to-face appointment.
Telemedicine may seem new. The widespread use of video conferencing has made it more common. But in reality, telemedicine has been around for many years.
For decades, doctors could perform a consult on a telephone call. Then, emails provided a way for patients to connect with their doctors. Although you can still choose to communicate with your doctor via phone or email, live telemedicine has become increasingly common.
Telemedicine isn’t just for busy workers. Originally, this kind of remote care was a great option for people living in rural or underserved communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a safer way to get medical care.
Increasingly, though, it’s become a helpful tool for people who can’t carve out time to commute to a doctor’s office and sit in a waiting room.
The terms “telemedicine” and “telehealth” are often used interchangeably, but the two have some differences.
“Telehealth” is a broader term. It’s defined as the use of technology in all healthcare functions. That may include electronic portals for storing or transferring health records. It can also include devices that can remotely monitor vital measurements.
Telemedicine is a type of telehealth. It is the use of information or communication technologies to get clinical services from your doctor. The goal of telemedicine is to deliver care and hopefully improve health outcomes.
To put it another way, telemedicine is the use of technology to bypass the traditional in-office visit and still get good results.
By any definition, telemedicine is designed to let patients have access to a healthcare professional in a more timely manner. That often means an appointment without the need to take time off work or find child care, commute, and wait in a traditional office or clinic.
It can also be useful for people who do not have transportation or people who live too far from a clinic or doctor’s office to get routine care.
Telemedicine is not meant to replace in-person, face-to-face care. But it can be a good option for many types of care. These include:
•regular check-ups for ongoing or recurring health conditions
•treatment of infectious conditions, like a cold, flu, or COVID-19
•treatment of minor conditions, like a cough, allergies, minor back pain, sprains, or strains
•dermatology appointments for the treatment of skin conditions
•mental health care services, including therapy, medication management, and counseling
Telemedicine offers a wide range of benefits, with the ultimate goal of better health outcomes. These benefits are also the reasons why so many people often opt for this type of care.
The benefits of telemedicine can include:
•less time loss with commuting and waiting
•more efficient appointments
•money saving on transportation, parking, and lost work
•an ability to attend appointments at times that may be inconvenient for in-person visits
Telemedicine appointments do have one risk that in-person visits don’t — security breaches. Most offices use verified platforms. These help protect patient privacy and appointment security. But hackers may access these appointments or records.
You can help boost the security of your online devices by making sure your computer, tablet, phone, or other devices have up-to-date security software.
Additionally, lagging internet connections or technical difficulties can interrupt appointments and make it harder for you and your doctor to communicate properly.
If you don’t have a reliable Internet connection, it’s a good idea to get to a location that has a stronger connection for your appointment. This can help ensure that your doctor gets an accurate picture of your health and doesn’t miss any vital clues or information about your condition.
Keeps these tips in mind for your next virtual healthcare appointment:
•Check your internet connection: Poor bandwidth may interfere with your appointment. Try to boost your signal or get to a location with better internet connectivity.
•Familiarize yourself with the software: You may need to download new software to safely connect with the virtual appointment. Make sure you do this before the appointment and test it to ensure it works.
•Find a quiet spot with good lighting: Try to find an area in your home or virtual location that doesn’t have much background noise and where you won’t have disruptions. Good lighting is especially important if your doctor needs to check a skin rash, swelling, bumps, or bruises on your skin.
•Take photos of a skin condition: If you have a skin issue, like a rash, acne, sore, or unusual mark, it’s especially helpful if you can share a high resolution photograph with your doctor. Take the photo of your skin issue before your appointment, making sure it’s as clear and detailed as possible, and upload it to your doctor’s online portal before your appointment.
•Bring a list of questions: Just as you would for an in-person visit, make notes for your appointment. This can include information about what you’ve been experiencing. It can also include questions you have about your symptoms, treatment, or test results.
Telemedicine can be a useful tool for both healthcare professionals and patients. You can get access to medical care on your time without the burdens of commuting, transportation costs, waiting, and missing work.
But telehealth does have its limits, and it is not a perfect fit for every person, condition, or situation.
- Greater access to care. More than five million Canadians (that’s about 13% of the population) do not have access to a family doctor. And even those that do have to rely on walk-in clinics or ERs if their physician is unavailable to meet in-person or a medical emergency occurs outside their office hours.
- Time, money savings. Being able to receive healthcare where and when you need it means you don’t have to travel, take time off work or worry about other responsibilities, saving you time and money on gas, parking and other costs.
- Convenient support. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, less than 40% of Canadians could get a same day appointment with their physician. In fact, 20% had to wait seven days or more to see their doctor.
- Family presence. It’s also easier to have family members or caregivers around you when you visit a doctor virtually. They can join in your appointment and help you follow the doctor’s advice after.
Virtual Care is any interaction between a patient and health care practitioner that doesn't involve direct contact. Virtual care includes video visits, telephone consultations and secure messaging (text messaging or emailing with a practitioner).
Apr 1, 2022 · Learn why virtual appointments are a great option for seeing your health-care provider, what set-up you'll need and when a virtual visit may not be possible.
Virtual healthcare reduces waiting time and wasted time. With virtual care, you can book a virtual visit and be connected with a licensed Canadian doctor in a matter of minutes. All from the comfort of your own home, or wherever you happen to be. Managing Chronic Conditions.
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What are the benefits of virtual care? Virtual care appointments offer convenience and comfort: meet virtually with your health-care provider from your home, work, or any place you choose
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