Telemedicine on the rise in Saudi Arabia amid pandemic
The Healthcare industry has been transformed drastically with the advancements in telemedicine technologies. Telemedicine is the exchange of medical data from one place to another via digital means of communication. It has been in the industry for many years but has seen drastic improvements in the past decade. They majorly help to give efficient remote care and consultation for patients. Doctors can speak to patients over audio/video calls and guide them for necessary actions. Telemedicine services were proved to be extremely helpful especially in the times of Coronavirus pandemic. They aided in screening Covid-19 patients and other patients to act accordingly.
Telemedicine on the rise in Saudi Arabia:
- With the outbreak of the Corona-virus pandemic, all the hospitals in Saudi Arabia have enhanced their telemedicine services. This has aided in providing a secure and virtual interaction between doctors and patients. As the kingdom of Saudi Arabia was experiencing extreme lockdowns and social distancing norms, these telemedicine services have been extremely helpful. People can schedule appointments, speak to doctors, access to medical prescriptions, and get medicines to homes. The futuristic approach by foremost healthcare officials and experts was the major reason for the successful enhancement of digital systems. It enabled a smooth transition for remote working and efficient response to the Corona-virus outbreak.
- This execution of organized digital response was done by a precise technical team to handle the crisis. The details were presented to the press by Dr. Almehaid, deputy minister for eHealth and digital transformation from the Ministry of Health. They built supervising consoles with the aid of existing telecommunications strategies to help medical experts and citizens. The digital apps were compliant with established Infection and Control Prevention platforms. Employing robots, telemedicine services and drive-through testing bays helped to refrain the doctors from being exposed to infections. Healthcare professionals were trained to use advanced digital services for taking care of patients remotely. Telemedicine was the main reason that helped both doctors and patients to follow all the norms of lockdowns. It effectively negated the potential infection risks to both doctors and patients. Check how Telemedicine on the rise in Saudi Arabia?
Advantages of Telemedicine:
Enhancement in patient engagement:
Advancements in telemedicine have given the privilege of audio/video calls, regular monitoring of vital readings, and regular supply of medicines to homes. Doctors can interact sooner with patients with no hassles for waiting in queues. Doctors used to deal with many issues in patients taking care of their health between the hospital visits. Chronic illness patients have been beneficial to telemedicine services in remote monitoring. It has constantly aided in enhancing the medical results at a reasonable price. Telemedicine is regularly used across the globe to view routine medical readings from the patient locations. These values could be analysed by medical experts and guide patients to take care of their medications and diet practices. They could advise them to visit the clinic as per the medical necessity and conditions.
Optimal access to care:
Patients staying far away from their doctors or hospitals face many difficulties in going through long travel times. Telemedicine helps in handling this issue and connects the doctors with patients in no time. This can be extremely helpful in rural regions where medical facilities are far to reach. It will be helpful for patients in mental health issues too where patients will get easy access to their doctors.
A decrease in healthcare costs:
Telemedicine will enhance the quality of healthcare with the reduction of costs in monitoring the patients, transporting from one place to another, and keeping them out of the hospital. Many studies and patient analyses have shown to reduce the patient stay in hospitals. Medical experts can speak to patients at the comfort of their homes on multiple devices. Regular appointment procedures like taking leaves from works, traveling, parking your vehicles, and waiting in the queue are avoided. This is more if the patient stays in a remote location where access to medical facilities may be limited and they may have to spend much time traveling.
Telemedicine enhances patient and doctor satisfaction:
Telemedicine offers more convenience for patients to follow all the medical guidelines and be involved in their health care. Patients get all the flexibility and the same level of care from the medical experts at the comfort of their homes. It will also enhance job satisfaction for medical health providers as they feel less stressed in interacting with scheduled patients. They will find it easier to balance their family and professional routines.
Enhances healthcare quality:
Some chronic health conditions may not need an immediate visit to hospitals but require constant monitoring. This could be difficult in rural areas where access to medical health is minimal. Telemedicine can come to the rescue while enhancing service delivery and monitoring chronic conditions. It will avoid frequent clinical visits and refrain patients from spending long periods in traveling. This has also reduced the frequent absence of patients as they can interact with their doctors from their locations. The rush during clinical follow-ups was also raising some quality concerns as doctors were in humongous stress to complete the numbers. Studies have shown that with telemedicine the quality of service has improved significantly.
Surges practice revenue:
Telemedicine saves the cost for patients with less frequent traveling visits to the hospital. It is also beneficial for medical experts as they can use their no-show times and concentrate on speaking to patients over digital mediums. This enhances the efficiency of practices and increases overall profit for the doctors. As patients will be more engaged to the doctors, it will be beneficial for both to be associated with longer times.
Bottom line:
A reliable doctor-patient relationship is a basis for getting the best quality healthcare in the time of the pandemic. The government of Saudi Arabia has made massive inroads in providing telemedicine services to benefit both patients and doctors. If you want to build any type of telemedicine app then associate with a reliable and experienced mobile app development company in Saudi Arabia like Brillmindz.
