Telemedicine (3)

Advantages of Telemedicine

Advances in technology and the use of the internet in the field of healthcare have a great impact between the patient and the healthcare provider.

Internet: In addition to the ability to search and access news about health, it also provides the opportunity to directly communicate with healthcare professionals. One of the other important features that occur is to assist the functioning of preventive health services by allowing direct communication, interaction and psychological support between patients.

Today, many support groups are accessed online for almost every disease. As a result of the developments in this field, the advantages of Telemedicine, which is of great importance in improving healthcare services, being more accessible and in all countries, are as follows.

• Health-related information can be accessed at any time and contributes to developments in the field of health by making accurate, fast and effective decisions.
• In health care services, the effectiveness of preventive and curative health services is increasing.
• With telemedicine and websites on the internet, people can decide when to consult a doctor by having more information about their health conditions. People can find answers to their questions and make more informed decisions about situations that need particular attention in the follow-up of the disease.
• By facilitating the transportation processes for patients and doctors with telemedicine, it contributes to clinical care service by researching time for doctors, use of paper in medical records, shortening recovery time, reducing unnecessary drug use, and reducing patient and hospital costs.
• It helps to reduce inequalities by providing new practices for improving the health of people who cannot benefit from healthcare services.
• It increases the availability and quality of its resources in creating a healthy future.
• The most important stage of medicine is whether the diagnosis is made correctly. In terms of accuracy, the physician can consult the patient with telemedicine, other physicians can be consulted and follow new developments.
• Patients can be served from a distance of kilometers as if they were working there in specialties that are not available in the hospitals in their immediate vicinity.
• Information can be shared between primary health care institutions, secondary and tertiary health institutions, and the number of hospitals and beds can be used more efficiently.
• Provides the possibility to intervene in emergency situations (natural disasters and air, sea, road accidents) by establishing communication between the hospital and the ambulance.

Disadvantages of Telemedicine

Telemedicine has many advantages as well as disadvantages. These are as follows;

The quality of healthcare services provided by communicating over electronic media without physical interaction may not be as high as the one-to-one service quality.

Conversations between the healthcare provider and the user may not be answered immediately in the access provided via the internet, therefore, dangerous consequences may occur in emergencies.

The healthcare system on the internet may be old, incorrect and of poor quality. The reason for this is that every user has the opportunity to publish the system on the internet, but the reliability, accuracy and quality control of these published systems are not performed.

The person’s health status and treatment method are important, personal and sensitive. Transactions made by the person can be recorded without permission from the person, and there may be a violation of privacy and private life.

Physicians can put the wrong diagnosis and treatment method to the patient only by online consultation over the internet without performing a physical examination.

In some studies, physicians expressed that they look positively at online consultation, but they are worried about getting the payoff of the health service they have provided.

People who have difficulties in accessing and using the internet may be deprived of telemedicine systems.