Of late, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW), along with the NITI Ayog has come up with guidelines that will enable registered medical practitioners (RMPs) to provide healthcare services using telemedicine. As per the ministry guidelines, telemedicine is ‘the delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a critical factor, by all healthcare professionals using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, research and evaluation, and for the continuing education of healthcare providers, all in the interests of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.’ Express Healthcare reached out to industry people to gather their views on these guidelines. Experts in this article explain how telemedicine will revolutionise the Indian healthcare system in the days to come, especially in keeping the with current health crisis due to the COVID-19 epidemic
Video consultation is a boon for people in rural areas
Telemedicine is proving to be a game-changer in the rural areas and amongst the underserved areas by making it easier for people to access a doctor. Given the shortage of super-specialist doctors in India, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, telemedicine has been emerging as a vital tool to bridge this void. With increased internet penetration and speed improving significantly over the past five years, more and more health tech startups have ventured into this domain and are devising innovative delivery models to improve healthcare availability to millions of people deprived of adequate primary and secondary healthcare facilities. IT-enabled healthcare kiosks that use intelligent technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are starting to make their presence felt in under-served areas. For people in the rural areas, who had to travel long distances to be able to access a doctor, a video consultation facility available close to home is a boon. It also acts as a triage of sorts by sifting outpatients who can be treated through virtual consultation from those who need physical attention. The latter are then referred to secondary care hospitals. This also serves to reduce the overcrowding of district hospitals.
While hitherto, the role of telemedicine had largely been limited to use in under-served areas, the COVID-19 crisis has changed this and brought telemedicine to the mainstream. For a bulk of people needing medical consultation, telemedicine has become the first line of choice at this moment as people are asked to stay home and hospitals suspend non-emergency Out Patient Departments (OPDs).
With regard to COVID-19 epidemic, telemedicine is playing an active role. A lot of hospitals have opened teleconsultation services to allow people access to doctors from the safety of their homes. At Paras Healthcare, we have started tele and video consultations across the hospitals, and there is a rising demand for these.
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Telemedicine is helping in two ways. Firstly, it is helping by making medical care available to many people with varying health conditions without them going to clinics and hospitals, mitigating the risk of infection. Secondly, it is helping suspected COVID-19 patients seek medical advice and help in self-quarantine.
The people in rural areas are willing to opt for alternative ways of accessing healthcare and telemedicine can be an effective tool, given they are educated of the advantages. The ideal model for rural areas is to establish telemedicine centres or IT-enabled kiosks and train a set of local people in using these centres. Furthermore, such centres must also be backed up by diagnostic facilities and medical dispensaries because these areas also lack these facilities.
Further, the standardised way to manage the patient load is to plug in appointments and set aside dedicated time for every doctor to offer consultation to patients seeking virtual medical help.
Telemedicine can be a revolutionary tool that has the power to minimise these critical imbalances through technology
Telemedicine is the need of the hour as it allows a patient to consult a respective medical-council verified doctor 24*7 from anywhere in the country. If one has a smartphone, he/she can consult a doctor, irrespective of his/her location. Being specific to COVID-19, teleconsultation can be used effectively as a screening mechanism, whereby only serious cases are advised to go for tests and physical examination, as required.
Source: Express Healthcare
