Better Utilization of Telemedicine and EHealth Using Video Conferencing

Today technology has advanced by leaps and bounds therefore has medical science. The ambit of medical health has gone well beyond just surgeries and administration of drugs to patients. Nowadays, it's the power of video conferencing that is ruling the roost. Doctors today are making use of video conferencing for interactions regarding telemedicine, research, for providing individual care to patients and a bunch of other activities.

Meetings which are done using video conferencing greatly decrease the cost issues which arise when working with conventional systems designed to use Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) and Quality of Service (QOS) Systems. They also increase efficiency through the use of the MCU allowing you to connect multiple video and audio sites to more than one conference instantly leading to better utilization of time. The MCU also supports mixed ISDN along with IP video conferencing calls.

Usage of Video Conferencing in Telemedicine and E-Health

One of the primary applications of video conferencing happens to be in case of telemedicine and e-health. That is owing to the fact that it greatly helps those patients who live in rural or far off areas and for whom accessing a full-fledged medical facility could possibly be more of an impediment. In such instances, telemedicine and e-health services provide such features to patients which helps them in furnishing their vitals, medical records, recent or old photos among other things.

Another uses of Video Conferencing in Telemedicine and E-Health are the following:

For Illness Monitoring

This feature is mainly used by the governmental authorities and also healthcare committees when an epidemic breaks out in order to gauge and mitigate the consequences of the outbreak. Real-time situational analysis is also done using telemedicine and e-health.

For Disaster Management

The features of telemedicine and e-health can be found in handy when calamities such as floods and earthquakes strike. During such catastrophes, when proper healthcare cannot be easily accessed, setting up of telemedicine and e-health services rules out the necessity for healthcare professionals to reach out to the affected areas and therefore helps in reducing the expenses incurred in the transportation of physicians and medical facilities.

Consultation from the Distance

The program of telemedicine and e-health can be used in providing health services in areas which are yet to start fully functional medical facilities. That is highly beneficial for rural areas and remote places, where medical organizations are rather hesitant and apprehensive to create fully functional institutions. In such cases, only an assessment of the medical condition of the patient is provided alongside suggestions for professionals.

Taking Second Opinions

Telemedicine programs prove to be highly useful in cases where the individual has been diagnosed with a particular ailment but the doctor would like to take a second opinion from another professional who resides in another area. The patient can also get the reviews of the primary doctor validated from another doctor using video conferencing.

Mentoring Using Video Conferencing

The features of telemedicine and e-health can also be utilized in cases whenever a medical practitioner struggles to perform the mandatory procedures due to insufficient experience or ability. Under such circumstances, another professional can offer the mandatory guidance and help him/her in performing at hand in addition to offer an in-depth analysis.

Use for medical knowledge and increasing Awareness in Community

Telemedicine and e-health programs can be utilized for spreading awareness among the masses through the outbreak of epidemics with no need for a medical professional to be at ground zero. Video conferencing greatly supports reaching out to a broad audience at the same time for the dissemination of information and that too, quickly.

James Hadley is an analyst of the healthcare industry and constantly writes on isses pertaining to healthcare. Today he has written article on Telemedicine and E-Health solutions. Read this short article and get to know more about Telemedicine services.