What is Telemedicine?

Telemedicine - Remote treatment of high blood pressure?

Telemedicine means, in short, that medical care is independent of where the patient, doctor, or caregiver is located. The same applies to findings and information that are collected from the care or are necessary for it, as well as to devices that are needed for this purpose.

This includes, among other things:

The transmission of medical images between centers for medical care;
The teleconsultation of specialists
The provision of a remote diagnosis by a doctor who is not physically present with the patient, such as the aforementioned teleconsulted specialists via remote monitoring;
The telemonitoring of a patient who is not in the hospital;
The home monitoring through remote care, which also allows the use of remote monitoring data, and
The tele-education of patients or medical professionals.

For a patient's daily life, the options available from home certainly play the most significant role.

It is now possible to transmit data from an implanted device or a continuously worn vest directly to the doctor or service provider from home after a heart attack or stroke. This allows the patient's data to be monitored long-term in the home environment without the need for hospitalization. The risk of an event, such as a stroke, heart attack, or similar, occurring again can be reduced in this way.

Lower-threshold telemedical monitoring, for example, occurs for high blood pressure or diabetes patients: The values measured by patients at home with the appropriate devices are transmitted to the treating physician and can be used by them for the patient's treatment.

Even simpler is the option to consult one's own family doctor online. Here, medical care takes place without physical contact. The doctor is contacted via the internet, and the care is provided through a video consultation, by phone, or in writing via chat.

Especially during the Corona pandemic, online or video consultations have proven to be an extremely useful and viable option for patient care. Here, the avoidance of infection is the primary focus.

However, it has also been shown that video consultations can relieve the practice workflow and the patient. The sick patient is spared the trip to the practice and the waiting time on-site. This can also help avoid unnecessary visits to the practice. Requests, such as extending a sick leave, inquiries for follow-up prescriptions, or questions about existing complaints, can be processed more quickly.

Additionally, the ability to interact with doctors online allows for obtaining opinions from distant specialists without having to travel there.

For a time, there was the innovation of being able to have simple illnesses treated by tele-doctors, obtaining follow-up prescriptions, or even sick leave certificates. This has since been significantly restricted in Germany, which is why well-known providers have withdrawn from the German market.

Sources:

By Sabine Croci. This article is medically reviewed. Last updated (06/2024).
Information on the website and within the app cannot replace a consultation with a doctor, but can certainly complement it.

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What is Telemedicine?

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