Medical professionals are utilizing technology to connect with patients living in locations where access to a primary care physician is limited. Rural areas especially benefit from this way of practicing medicine, according to Bridge.
Here are seven things to know:
1. Rural areas may have a limited supply of physicians, allowing patients to seek physicians across the nation to answer basic questions online.
2. A psychiatrist is able to asses a patient's mental health through a video link and prescribe medicine as he/she sees fit.
3. Patients can travel to nearby clinics to have tests or X-rays, whose results can be read and delivered from almost any location.
4. Physicians can monitor chronic conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure. Physicians can order a visit to an urgent care center if patients' readings are off the charts.
5. Telemedicine is an emerging field, especially because of the difficulty of recruiting physicians to rural areas.
6. Technology is rapidly advancing, but legal and ethical codes are not evolving at the same rate. Many video teleconferencing lines popular with consumers such as Skype and FaceTime are not HIPAA compliant.
7. Licensing also poses a barrier to telemedicine. A psychiatrist practicing in Arkansas may not be able to treat a client in Michigan due to different state licensing policies.
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