Why We Need Virtual Medical

Proper medical attention is vital if you want to live a full, long life. That being said, we don’t always have easy access to local hospitals or medical staff.

Or, as recent COVID-19 events have shown, it’s dangerous for us to access medical care the conventional way.

The good news is there is a solution.

Virtual medical care might make some people uncomfortable but this can be said of any new innovation.

Whether you trust it or not, the world needs virtual medical. Let’s look at why.

First, the obvious and most prescient.

In times of crises our access to medical services are limited often to an extreme degree. This can lead to dangerous and stressful situations if health complications make themselves known.

How do you access your doctor when you’re highly contagious and a risk to other patients?

This is one of the major strengths HealthTech brings with it. By adding new ways to connect we can now see our doctor without seeing our doctor.

Take Livecare for example. This platform provides doctors and patients a new way to use our medical system, using video and messaging technology to connect and discuss what the health issues are.

This system carries many benefits including reducing travel time for all involved, reducing human contact (very important in contagious periods) and making the experience less painful for all parties. (When sick often the best thing we can do is move as little as possible.)

Systems like this benefit not just the highly contagious but the medically fragile. If you are worried about the impact of the health of those around you limiting the number of people around you is a must and entering a major medical facility can be a stress and worry.

Virtual medical will likely save lives. We need this technology and should be embracing it as much as possible.

Ontario knows about the importance of virtual health and has in fact created a Digital First for Health strategy to bring in the new guard.

This strategy is set to give our healthcare system the boost it needs to become more accessible.

Video visits have the potential to be game-changers for our health care, increasing access for all Canadians. For northern residents who may be seriously lacking access to family physicians this will prove to be a life saver.

The COVID-19 crisis shone a light on just how stressed the Northern healthcare system is, staffed with overworked doctors who have no real replacements if they’re taken out of the running.

Virtual visits can easily increase the medical oversight in the community and ease the stress the on-site doctors have taken on.

Virtual health is also a game-changer when it comes to dealing with managing mental health services. This is a major asset and something we’ve needed for a long time.

On top of this being a long-lingering need it’s also an urgent need in times of crises like now.  COVID-19 shone a light at the mental and psychological effects of a pandemic and governments are now doing what they can to put forth solid mental health care.

This is why initiatives like Cobalt are being created.

A joint effort from Penn Medicine and UnitedHealth Group the Cobalt platform directs medical personnel towards their best options for mental health and wellness. With an easy and unobtrusive interface and data collection the platform is a great way for our carers to seek out the help they might need.

So often we don’t seek out help because we’re afraid or ashamed to admit we need help. By making mental health care more accessible we’re helping to build a healthier society and increasing virtual health’s presence is a big part of this.

It should be obvious that virtual health is a big part of where healthcare is moving. Our lives are so closely linked to technology of course we want the realms to meet.

The good news is there are numerous advantages to virtual health and its contributions will help HealthTech make us healthier and better people.