Regular doctor appointments are vital for anyone concerned about being healthy and living a long life. However, in our fast-paced modern lifestyle, it’s not always easy to keep up with regular check-ups and scheduled appointments might be missed – a problem for your healthcare provider and for you. Fortunately, technology is here to the rescue, and it won’t take long before you can conveniently reach out to your doctor online, whenever you have to. And, of course, we mean consulting actual licensed doctors who do their accredited practice online, not merely checking Dr Google for some medical-flavored clues.
There are many different ways in which modern healthcare will embrace a digital future that will effectively reduce the need for in-person medical appointments, while actually improving the quality and reliability of medical assistance. From doctor consultations online to the widespread use of mobile devices to track vital signs, several interesting innovations are just around the corner. Read through the following sections for an overview.
Online doctor consultations
One of the most obvious developments that will bring digital healthcare to the mainstream will be the advent of online doctor consultations. This is already a tentative option in some areas of the globe, and in many cases, it makes perfect sense. Why would you want to lose time going from your current whereabouts to your nearest medical center, if we already have technology that allows you to have your health concerns sorted out immediately, no matter where you happen to be?
Many medical issues can be effectively diagnosed and treated remotely, simply by having a qualified doctor look at a video of the affected area. Provided a simple video chat along with other technical advancements listed in the next sections, doctors can now make surprisingly accurate diagnoses for a wide range of standard health issues.
It doesn’t mean that regular doctor appointments will become obsolete either, since your doctor will still want to see you in person now and then. Also, there will always be trickier cases where a remote diagnosis may not be possible – in which case you’ll be asked to visit the doctor’s office as usual.
Ordering medication online
Excessive paperwork is killing trees and is murdering moods. There is too much valuable time being wasted by everyone involved, on trivial routine matters such as getting a simple prescription. This is both time-consuming and energy-depleting, and there is no logical reason why a doctor can’t simply push a button and send your prescription to the local pharmacy. You can then pick it up directly without wasting your time or the doctor’s time.
Just think how much better your life could be if you could write an electronic message to your physician asking for a new prescription! The doctor would simply have to check your medical history to make sure your request is valid and then process the request electronically – so there would be no need to carry prescription papers around. In many cases, there won’t even be any need to physically go to the nearest pharmacy, since it should be possible to log into your online pharmacy account and ask them to send the medication to your house.
Tracking vital signs through mobile devices
Fitness tracking devices are getting increasingly popular nowadays. While they’re still regarded by many as expensive toys, the truth is these gadgets will likely become widespread and crucial with the advent of online doctor appointments. The vital signs data retrieved from your fitness tracking gadget will provide valuable data to your online doctor to make an accurate decision. In many cases, this data could substitute for expensive and complicated medical tests.
Tracking vital signs through mobile devices is a relatively new innovation. It’s likely to explode in popularity soon though as the data gathered from these devices will be useful to draw a suggestive picture of your overall health. This data can be synchronized automatically with your doctor’s computer, in real-time. With some ingenious use of data filters and alerts, your fitness tracking device will be quick to pick up on any abnormalities and call them to the attention of your doctor, even before you realize all is not well.
