How many of us ever had feelings of lethargy and laziness regarding visiting doctor when feeling sick? Generally, this is a first-world problem for the majority of Americans living in big cities and their suburbs, but what if the closest hospital is located a long distance away?
In the near future, the solution could be only couple of clicks away. Thanks to telehealth technology, patients and doctors will be permanently linked through computers and mobile devices. Many researchers feel that this technology will redefine the entire healthcare industry over the next decade.
This technology is already implemented in some areas of healthcare: monitoring cardiology patients, for example, is possible due to the basic elements of telemedicine – with use of modern IT infrastructure, doctors and nurses will be available 24/7 at significantly lower costs to assess various emergency situations like heart attack or stroke.
According to Ray Dorsey, neurologist at University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, telehealth technology can re-shape healthcare industry worldwide. He is sure that in developing parts of the world it will be seen as ?a means to provide unprecedented access to care where previously care has just largely been inaccessible?
The emerging rate of smartphone use worldwide is another positive factor for telehealth implementation: it is a ready-made infrastructure for the system, where anyone can communicate with healthcare specialists directly from their homes, offices or any other location.
The telehealth technology will allow doctors to monitor the health of their patients with chronic conditions, such as diabetes or Parkinson?s disease, in real time. The technology could also be combined with cloud-based services, wearable devices, etc.
Scott Wolf, President and Director of Research for Grace Century commented: ?One of our key partners – The Quantum Group – has its powerful PWeR 3.0 technology, a next-generation healthcare IT solution designed to bridge the gaps of communication and facilitate the exchange of patient information throughout the healthcare industry. We are proud to have helped give birth to it. The ?child? is born, already walking and will grow rapidly.?
Wolf also added: ?Telehealth draws heavily on Internet connectivity. It will make for a seamless world. A rural village in Ghana can be linked to a medical center in Tunis or Houston. Voice translation software will help to bridge language gaps. The vast continent of Africa and rest or rural Asia and Oceania will, within the coming 20 years, be linked to Telehealth?
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