With advancement in telecommunication, telemedicine has gained popularity and requires accurate documentation of patient records with the help of medical transcription services. Faster internet connection speeds and increased use of smartphones has made healthcare providers turn to electronic communication to interact with patients. Telemedicine helps doctors to link with the patient using a phone or interactive video conferencing. Patients must have medical technical equipment to monitor blood pressure or diabetics so that they can provide the doctors with the values of important parameters for better care. Telemedicine is also a good option in places where medical expertise is hard to come by.
In 2016, a study published by the American Academy of Sleep Machine reported higher levels of patient satisfaction with the telemedicine visit compared to the traditional visit. The reason was easy access to care without the hassles of travel and waiting periods for patients living in remote areas.
In 2014, research by the VA Medical Centre in Albuquerque, New Mexico found that 95% of the respondents wanted to continue receiving care via telemedicine instead of personal visits. It was also noted that patient savings netted $48000 due to the reduced need for travelling from remote locations to the clinic or hospital.
The telehealth encounter is usually only 15 minutes long compared to 12 minutes of the office encounter, according to HIT Consultant. The online visit therefore comes with time savings of 106 minutes.
One of fastest growing medical services, telemedicine connects consumers with clinicians who they have never met before. It is a great option in the case of non-emergency situations such as flu, skin rashes, etc. Various health plans and employees have rushed to offer the service and promote it as a convenient method for plan members to get medical care without leaving their home or work place. According to the American Telemedicine Association, web companies like Teladoc, Doctor on Demand and American Well are expected to host some 1.2 million such virtual doctor visits this year. However, telemedicine services can be useful only for non-emergency disease and have limited applicability for emergency situations.
Telemedicine can ensure better patient care and support. High quality EMR-integrated medical transcription services are available to help providers document the conversation between the patient and doctor. The telemedicine visit has a short duration and providers need to stay focused on those aspects of the consultation that deliver the most value to their patients. This leaves little time for documentation of various elements of the patient encounter. The skilled team in a reliable medical transcription company allow providers to do this by freeing them by providing quality services to document the virtual office visit.
