By now, most have heard of telehealth. Teladoc is one popular technology provider enabling telehealth. Telehealth utilization continues to increase and the trend will likely continue for many years into the future.
There are major benefits to utilizing telehealth
services. The first is convenience. It can be so hard to get a timely appointment
with your primary care physician and when you do, you have to travel to their
clinic and wait in a waiting room full of sick people so you can be seen for 15
minutes. With telehealth, you can
instantly access a provider from the comfort of your home. Talk about convenience.
Telehealth also shifts the venue of care to a more
appropriate setting. Many people go to
the Emergency Room for things like the flu simply because they do not know
where else to go. While urgent care has
helped remedy this problem, telehealth has added another tool to prevent unnecessary
ER visits.
More and more insurance carriers and employers are adding
telehealth to their plans and often these visits are accompanied by low
copays.
It is still important to understand telehealth services are
not meant to be a replacement to your primary care physician, who can be
thought of as the “quarterback” of your medical life. Someone needs to keep your health history and
be the hub for your healthcare, and that should be your primary care provider.
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