5 Telehealth Providers to Rely on During Covid-19
Telehealth services have been around for a while now but it wasn’t until the Covid-19 epidemic that they became such a necessity. Although a lot of you express such bravery in the face of what is going on in the world, many are rightfully concerned for their health.
Especially if you are someone in the risk group – if you have an autoimmune disease, a respiratory disease, are over the age of 60, etc. – this is not the best time for you to visit the hospital. However, other illnesses don’t just stop acting up because it’s not convenient for you to see your doctor. You still need regular checkups and maintaining some diseases truly requires frequent visits with your treatment team, possibly even adjusting your medication.
While it could be safe for some patients – especially if you call beforehand – to visit their doctor, many are either worried or their condition simply doesn’t leave room for any risks. This is why today on the FindMeCure blog we wanted to give you more information about telehealth as well as services you can use if you need medical attention.
What is telehealth?
In a nutshell, telehealth is the use of modern technology in order to access healthcare remotely. Every time you call your doctor for a consultation over the phone, you are participating in a form of telehealth.
However, thanks to technological advancements, telehealth today can come in more complicated ana elaborate forms like an app or a platform that allows your doctor to access your EMR (electronic medical record). It can get even more ‘fancy’ – they could, for example, take digital notes and share them with you or their colleagues, or you could connect a wearable device that monitors your vitals to the platform, etc.
You could request prescription refills electronically, log your medication use, track your activity and macronutrients, order test supplies and so much more. Telehealth services nowadays offer a lot of functionalities to make the process easy and convenient for you and your healthcare provider.
How can I find Telehealth providers?
Telehealth providers range from platforms that simply serve as an infrastructure to all-inclusive services that actually link you to doctors remotely. For your convenience, we have composed this list of providers and we advise you take a look at their websites to make your choice. This list is not comprehensive and it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor and find a solution together.
Some of these providers also offer remote Covid-19 assessment so you if you are worried, you can access this kind of service from the comfort of your home.
Health Guide responds to the Covid-19 crisis by providing Free Coronavirus Telehealth Assessment. Upon completing the assessment, you can get connected to a doctor if appropriate for a free video consultation.
Valley Health is a Telehealth service provider that also shows commitment to fighting the pandemic by offering a Covid-19 assessment. Their regular services include behavioural health, MAT, family medicine, internal medicine, and paediatrics. Their locations are in West Virginia.
Teladoc is dedicated to providing virtual care to patients around the world especially during the Covid-19 epidemic. They offer online evaluation for coronavirus on top of their usual services which include Telehealth and Integrated virtual care.
Comarch provides remote nursing among other services. A number of health parameters are monitored and rescue workers are immediately contacted when parameters for vital signs reach a level that triggers an automatic alarm or when the SOS button is pressed. If you are someone who needs to be frequently monitored but conditions during the pandemic make it difficult, we recommend you look into remote nursing.
This provider offers Video Visits to bring the doctor’s office to you without the risk of exposure to germs and viruses in the waiting room. Their services include remote monitoring to watch blood pressure, blood glucose, weight and more indicators. You can discuss this option with your healthcare provider if you require monitoring but hospital visits are a health hazard to you.
If you are one of the many patients looking for treatments in development because your current treatment is not delivering satisfactory results, you can consider applying for clinical trials even during the pandemic. Some trials are transitioning to virtual visits and remote monitoring of their patients in order to continue providing healthcare to their participants. You can learn more about it by getting in touch with the teams running those studies through our platform.