The Benefits of Telemedicine in Rural Areas

Telemedicine is gaining momentum in the Healthcare Industry. However, it is extremely necessary to reach the technology into rural areas where, access to quality healthcare is limited. While the challenges along the way could be many and tough, the benefits of Telemedicine can outweigh any challenge.

Challenges faced by rural sector in receiving good Healthcare

While rural sectors are showing considerable progress with improved facilities and awareness programs, the healthcare sector needs has still a long way to go. The reason could be attributed to,

• Behaviour pattern among people living in rural sectors.
• Lack of proper education
• Lack of transportation facilities
• Poor access to healthy food
• Lack of hygiene
• Lack of basic needs

While each of the above points can contribute to a deteriorating healthcare system, a collective approach is the need of the hour where people and authorities concerned work together towards a successful solution. Telemedicine can be a very effective solution which makes use of technology to reduce much of the above mentioned constraints and bring in a change.

Benefits of Telemedicine in Rural Areas

Telemedicine, though is a very effective solution, it all depends upon how quickly the rural population is made aware of its benefits and starts adapting to it. Hence, in order to make a complete shift towards using Telemedicine, there is a need to make the technology more accessible

Telemedicine programs have a great potential to completely change the way healthcare system works in rural areas.  Some of the benefits that it brings along are quite distinct like,

• Helps in solving Transport limitations which is one of the main causes for lack of proper healthcare in rural areas.
• Helps in building up economic stability in the area
• The use of technology and advanced communication equipment promises a much more assured diagnosis and treatment of critical and chronic diseases.
• Strengthens doctor patient engagement and improves frequencies of consultation due to reduced waiting time.
• Immediate analysis of blood reports and imaging data by radiologists and doctors increases the chances of receiving quick medical attention.
• A patient’s vital parameters like blood pressure, sugar levels , blood oxygen levels can be monitored at regular intervals from the comforts of his house and recorded in the patient’s electronic files for quick consideration purposes
• Access to healthcare experts across the globe increases and chances of getting a second opinion improves immensely.
• Once the rural population adopts the technology, it results in better patient outcomes in terms of treatment and healthcare accessibility.

Wrapping up

Telemedicine is slowly making its way into the rural areas in a steady way. There is a need to increase its intensity so that it can benefit the rural population throughout our country. As such, technology is more urgently needed by the under-developed and rural areas. Even though the adoption of telemedicine in these areas is a bit slow, yet with increasing efforts by the healthcare industry and the government, there is good progress in spreading awareness among the people. Connect with us at Apollo TeleHealth to understand more about our rural connect projects.