Proper practice of hygiene is known to be almost non-existent in the world, especially in rural areas. Due to this reason, the prevalence of infection and related health conditions are pretty common in the susceptible regions.
According to a report published by CDC, almost 1.7 million people suffer from variousinfectious diseases every year. Amongst them, the most common one is the UTI (UrinaryTract Infection). It accounts for around 32% of infection-related patients.
On the other hand, 22% of infections usually occur due to negligence or as a side-effect ofsurgeries. This is where telemedicine comes in.
With this technology, it has become possible to treat a patient in a remote area efficiently.As per a study, around 100,084 consultations between doctors and patients have been performed successfully due to Tele-ICU.
This, in turn, has helped the patients to be cured of their condition without having to visit their physician.
However, that’s not all. Telemedicine can be useful in the Infection Control Unit for several reasons.
Here are a few of them.
Minimizes the Risk of Contagion
Almost every infectious disease can be contagious, and the best example of it is the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report suggests that there have been almost 192,281,116 cases of Coronavirus in the world. However, this issue of a critical disease transferring from one person to another can be countered with telemedicine. In a Tele-ICU system, a patient does not need to visit a hospital or a physician. A healthcare specialist can connect with them through a live-support module and treat them remotely without any visible problem. As the person is not going out (talking with people), it puts fewer people at risk of developing the same disease. A report suggests that almost 45% of cases of contagious diseases can be solved through remote treatment.
Getting Treatment During a Pandemic
Almost every infectious disease can be contagious, and the best example of it is the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent report suggests that there have been almost 192,281,116 cases of Coronavirus in the world. However, this issue of a critical disease transferring from one person to another can be countered with telemedicine. In a Tele-ICU system, a patient does not need to visit a hospital or a physician. A healthcare specialist can connect with them through a live-support module and treat them remotely without any visible problem. As the person is not going out (talking with people), it puts fewer people at risk of developing the same disease. A report suggests that almost 45% of cases of contagious diseases can be solved through remote treatment.
Better Availablity
During COVID-19, many doctors were not opening their clinics due to the risk of contagion. However, according to a report of e-Next ICU, the doctors in India attended more than 2000 calls in the same timeline. Moreover, it can improve the overall treatment speed due to the doctors collaborating with each other. For example, e-Next ICU has conducted evaluation reports on over 6,500 patients while more than 450 beds were covered during the COVID-19 era. Besides, a total of 1922 emergency calls were attended in the same period as well. So, in a way, it can be said that telemedicine offers a better availability than physical visits in a doctor’s chamber.
Conclusion
Telemedicine, in essence, is a somewhat newer conception in the world of medicine. However, it is much quicker and prominent than the traditional methods. A report on this technology has reported that Tele-ICU can help in reducing the overall mortality rate in a country by almost 40%. It can also improve the rate of discharging from 505 to 60%. However, there are still some flaws available in this system, which may cause some minor problems. Hopefully, these issues will be updated in the near future to have flawless medical proceedings for critical patients.
