Telemedicine and Patient Engagement
We all like to have quality time with our doctors when illness or other issues arise. If your doctor’s office is anything like mine, you find yourself waiting forever in the waiting room, only to be rushed through a 10 minute appointment with the doctor.
Patient engagement is one of the most crucial elements of healthcare and telemedicine is changing what our appointments with our doctors look like. Not only are visits more convenient – you can talk to your doctor face to face from wherever you are – those visits are also more productive. There’s plenty of time to ask all the questions you have and get the answers you need.
Telemedicine involves long distance patient/clinician contact and care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring and more. Here are some interesting stats on Telemedicine.
- More than 67% of healthcare professionals are using, or are planning to use, some form of telemedicine in the next few years
- More than 70% of consumers prefer a video consult for their prescription over travelling to doctor’s office
- More than half of all U.S. hospitals currently have a telemedicine program
- The number of telemedicine patients will increase from 350,000 in 2013 to 7 million in 2018
- 89% of healthcare executives said they expect telemedicine to transform the U.S. healthcare system in the next decade
- Only about one in 10 physicians practice in rural areas in the U.S., but about 20% of Americans live in rural areas without easy access to primary care or specialist medical services
- About 76% of patients care more about access to healthcare than the need for human interactions with their healthcare providers
- In one survey by HIMSS, 44.3% of healthcare system respondents said that patient care gaps, due to community remoteness, were the main reason for adopting telemedicine
- According to Ken Research, the telemedicine market is expected to grow to $38.5 billion in revenue by 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 32% from 2013-2018
Telemedicine is being rapidly adopted by individuals, companies, doctors and hospitals.
Dr. John’s Medical Solutions is a service bundling company that puts your healthcare in your hands, when and where you need it. Call us today at 800-257-9214.
