The term telemedicine was coined when an Australian doctor used a two-way radio to transmit a medical advertisement in 1900. However, the meaning of the term has evolved drastically over time. Telemedicine refers to providing virtual remote healthcare with the healthcare service provider and the patient in different physical locations.
Today, the communication tools used in telemedicine are smaller, more advanced, and far more effective than the tools that were used when telemedicine first originated.
Initially, telemedicine technologies were meant to provide medical services to those who lived in regions that did not have a hospital. However, for people living in developed and developing countries, these technologies were a matter of convenience rather than necessity. In the wake of the recent COVID-19 virus outbreak, things changed significantly.
The term telemedicine originated when an Australian doctor used a two-way radio to transmit a medical advertisement in 1900. Over time, it has evolved to refer to virtual remote healthcare between providers and patients in different locations. Today, telemedicine utilizes advanced, effective communication tools compared to its early days.
Telehealth adoption surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, concerns about increased fraud and healthcare inequality have emerged. Initially, telemedicine primarily served remote areas lacking hospitals. But with COVID-19, it became a widespread convenience in both developed and developing countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. Governments all around the world initiated nationwide lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus. In times such as this, people were restricted from leaving their homes. If people required any healthcare service, the only option they had was to use a telehealth app.
These apps allowed them to consult with a medical professional from the comfort of their homes. In such dire times, telemedicine apps once again became a necessity. Analysts predicted that the telemedicine industry would grow significantly in the coming years. Nevertheless, the transition from traditional healthcare solutions to telehealth will not be easy. Telehealth holds promise for enhancing patient outcomes and lowering costs through more efficient care delivery. However, numerous barriers to implementation may impede its widespread adoption.
Do you want to start a telemedicine business but don’t know how to get started? This free eBook can help you out!
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the healthcare industry, acting as a catalyst for innovation across various sectors. This disruption has been particularly evident in the following areas:
Drug Discovery: The urgent need for treatments and cures for COVID-19 has led to a faster pace of drug development. New technologies and research methods are being explored to expedite the discovery and approval process for life-saving medications.
Remote/Telehealth: Telehealth offers potential benefits by enhancing patient outcomes and reducing costs through efficient care delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated its adoption due to social distancing measures, prompting widespread use of virtual consultations as a safe alternative to in-person visits.
Accelerated Vaccine Development: The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines is a testament to the advancements made in vaccine research. Streamlined processes and international collaboration have played a crucial role in bringing these vaccines to market in record time.
Elective Location-Based Patient Care: The pandemic forced a reevaluation of elective surgeries and procedures. Telehealth consultations and remote monitoring technologies have facilitated a shift towards providing some elective care outside of traditional hospital settings.
Several barriers to telemedicine for physicians may include patients’ difficulty using technology, limited internet access and speed, the appropriateness of telemedicine for practice, the ease of using telemedicine platforms, and reimbursement challenges. They may also be reluctant to use telemedicine due to concerns about maintaining a doctor-patient relationship, diagnosing and treating patients with a physical examination, and providing high-quality care remotely.
Patients have various barriers to telemedicine, such as lack of access to technology, cost-related obstacles, privacy and security concerns, and a lack of awareness and training on using technology effortlessly. Some patients may also be hesitant to use telehealth because they struggle to trust and adopt telemedicine compared to in-person visits, are paranoid about the quality of care they receive remotely, and require frequent visits for chronic conditions.
By addressing these barriers to telemedicine use, we can make telemedicine more accessible and affordable for everyone.
For physicians, perceived barriers to telemedicine also vary depending on whether they practice in an urban, suburban, or rural area. Physicians in urban and suburban practices are most concerned about malpractice liability, reflecting the overall trend; in contrast, physicians in rural practices feel that technical problems with telemedicine technology are a greater obstacle.
A high-speed and reliable internet connection is considered a prerequisite to running most telemedicine applications. However, internet coverage is still not widely available in developing countries, particularly in rural and remote areas. Therefore, the lack of reliable and high-wideband internet poses a barrier to our smooth transition into telemedicine services.
Healthcare systems need to automate tasks and leverage technology to adapt to a more telehealth-centric future. The biggest barrier to the development and implementation of telemedicine services is the lack of a formal organizational structure. The lack of collaboration between stakeholders and the unpreparedness of the healthcare industry to adopt digital technologies result in the absence of a formal organizational structure. These barriers are the most significant bottlenecks in the development of telemedicine.
Currently, the cost of customer acquisition is one of the biggest challenges to telemedicine. Though the market for telemedicine is growing, healthcare service providers are concerned that due to the lowered consultation and treatment costs of telemedicine apps, they will not be able to make any profits. Some healthcare service providers believe that market forces will not allow them to compete in the telehealth industry. As a result, they will incur losses.
Another barrier to telehealth is the purpose for which patients use telehealth services. Most patients who use telehealth solutions only use them for headaches, sore throats, earaches, and running noses. While it is more convenient for these patients to use telemedicine apps, the industry as a whole will not change unless telemedicine replaces patient visits regarding more severe issues.
This transformation is happening but at a slow pace. Over the decade, we can expect to see monumental changes in the healthcare industry.
This is the barrier to telehealth that patients are most concerned about. Sometimes, the virtual doctor app may not be able to diagnose the patient’s symptoms adequately. This may lead to unnecessary prescriptions and drive up costs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a tremendous increase in the use of telemedicine, which has transformed the healthcare sector. Nonetheless, despite its widespread acceptance, several obstacles have impeded its smooth integration into regular healthcare practices.
As we have moved into the post-pandemic period, it is essential to address these barriers to realize the full potential of telemedicine in providing accessible and efficient healthcare services.
Ensuring Access to Stable Internet: By partnering with internet service providers and governmental bodies, stable connectivity can be achieved in rural regions, allowing patients to access telemedicine services uninterrupted.
Developing Mobile-Optimized Platforms: In order to improve accessibility for patients using smartphones or low-bandwidth connections, telemedicine platforms should be designed to support a variety of devices and internet speeds.
Improving User-Friendly Interfaces: Simplifying the user interfaces of telemedicine platforms can encourage smooth patient-physician communication and foster a more favorable virtual healthcare environment.
Encouraging Adequate Training: Training healthcare professionals on how to use telemedicine tools and communication techniques effectively can improve patient engagement and satisfaction during virtual consultations.
Implementing Strong Encryption Protocols: Using advanced encryption techniques and secure data transmission protocols can protect patients’ sensitive information while also increasing trust in the telemedicine ecosystem and alleviating concerns about data breaches.
Complying with Stringent Regulatory Standards: To ensure data security and patient confidentiality, telemedicine practices must be aligned with existing healthcare regulations and privacy laws, fostering a secure and compliant telemedicine environment.
Advocating for Telemedicine Policy Reforms: Working with policymakers and healthcare stakeholders to advocate for flexible telemedicine regulations and policies can help integrate telemedicine into routine healthcare practices, removing legal barriers and promoting widespread adoption.
Clarifying Reimbursement Policies: Collaborating with insurance providers and healthcare organizations to develop transparent reimbursement policies for telemedicine services can encourage healthcare professionals to embrace virtual care while also ensuring equitable compensation and promoting long-term sustainability.
Cultivating Patient Education Initiatives: Launching educational campaigns to raise awareness about the benefits and reliability of telemedicine can help reduce patient concerns, foster trust, and encourage wider adoption of virtual healthcare services.
Enhancing Transparent Communication: Creating clear communication channels between healthcare providers and patients regarding telemedicine procedures, data handling practices, and privacy measures can encourage transparency, building patient confidence in the effectiveness and safety of telemedicine.
Telemedicine solutions have already become a recognized and valued segment of the healthcare industry. In the future, telehealth solutions could be adopted significantly faster, driven by their inclusion as a covered benefit within comprehensive health plans. But if you invest in it right now, you will undoubtedly see long-term clinical and financial returns.
It was COVID-19 that made telemedicine a hot topic because it accelerated its adoption and highlighted its many benefits. Telemedicine was largely underused before the pandemic due to the reluctance of patients and healthcare professionals to use it.
However, the need to reduce face-to-face interaction during the pandemic sparked a surge in telemedicine use, with visits increasing by over 3,000% in some instances. The pandemic prompted policy changes that increased the affordability and accessibility of telemedicine. State provider regulations were issued, and Medicare and private insurers expanded their coverage.
As a result, telemedicine will play a larger role in providing affordable, convenient, and safe care for a variety of conditions.
It was COVID-19 that made telemedicine a hot topic because it accelerated its adoption and highlighted its many benefits. Telemedicine was largely underused before the pandemic due to the reluctance of patients and healthcare professionals to use it.
However, the need to reduce face-to-face interaction during the pandemic sparked a surge in telemedicine use, with visits increasing by over 3,000% in some instances. The pandemic prompted policy changes that increased the affordability and accessibility of telemedicine. State provider regulations were issued, and Medicare and private insurers expanded their coverage.
As a result, telemedicine will play a larger role in providing affordable, convenient, and safe care for a variety of conditions.
We can improve access to telemedicine technology by providing patients with the necessary devices and internet access. This can be accomplished through public libraries, community centers, and other organizations.
By ensuring that telemedicine platforms are safe and HIPAA-compliant, we can allay privacy and security worries about telemedicine. In order to use telemedicine safely and securely, we can also instruct patients on how to do so.
The team at Mindbowser was highly professional, patient, and collaborative throughout our engagement. They struck the right balance between offering guidance and taking direction, which made the development process smooth. Although our project wasn’t related to healthcare, we clearly benefited...
Founder, Texas Ranch Security
Mindbowser played a crucial role in helping us bring everything together into a unified, cohesive product. Their commitment to industry-standard coding practices made an enormous difference, allowing developers to seamlessly transition in and out of the project without any confusion....
CEO, MarketsAI
I'm thrilled to be partnering with Mindbowser on our journey with TravelRite. The collaboration has been exceptional, and I’m truly grateful for the dedication and expertise the team has brought to the development process. Their commitment to our mission is...
Founder & CEO, TravelRite
The Mindbowser team's professionalism consistently impressed me. Their commitment to quality shone through in every aspect of the project. They truly went the extra mile, ensuring they understood our needs perfectly and were always willing to invest the time to...
CTO, New Day Therapeutics
I collaborated with Mindbowser for several years on a complex SaaS platform project. They took over a partially completed project and successfully transformed it into a fully functional and robust platform. Throughout the entire process, the quality of their work...
President, E.B. Carlson
Mindbowser and team are professional, talented and very responsive. They got us through a challenging situation with our IOT product successfully. They will be our go to dev team going forward.
Founder, Cascada
Amazing team to work with. Very responsive and very skilled in both front and backend engineering. Looking forward to our next project together.
Co-Founder, Emerge
The team is great to work with. Very professional, on task, and efficient.
Founder, PeriopMD
I can not express enough how pleased we are with the whole team. From the first call and meeting, they took our vision and ran with it. Communication was easy and everyone was flexible to our schedule. I’m excited to...
Founder, Seeke
We had very close go live timeline and Mindbowser team got us live a month before.
CEO, BuyNow WorldWide
If you want a team of great developers, I recommend them for the next project.
Founder, Teach Reach
Mindbowser built both iOS and Android apps for Mindworks, that have stood the test of time. 5 years later they still function quite beautifully. Their team always met their objectives and I'm very happy with the end result. Thank you!
Founder, Mindworks
Mindbowser has delivered a much better quality product than our previous tech vendors. Our product is stable and passed Well Architected Framework Review from AWS.
CEO, PurpleAnt
I am happy to share that we got USD 10k in cloud credits courtesy of our friends at Mindbowser. Thank you Pravin and Ayush, this means a lot to us.
CTO, Shortlist
Mindbowser is one of the reasons that our app is successful. These guys have been a great team.
Founder & CEO, MangoMirror
Kudos for all your hard work and diligence on the Telehealth platform project. You made it possible.
CEO, ThriveHealth
Mindbowser helped us build an awesome iOS app to bring balance to people’s lives.
CEO, SMILINGMIND
They were a very responsive team! Extremely easy to communicate and work with!
Founder & CEO, TotTech
We’ve had very little-to-no hiccups at all—it’s been a really pleasurable experience.
Co-Founder, TEAM8s
Mindbowser was very helpful with explaining the development process and started quickly on the project.
Executive Director of Product Development, Innovation Lab
The greatest benefit we got from Mindbowser is the expertise. Their team has developed apps in all different industries with all types of social proofs.
Co-Founder, Vesica
Mindbowser is professional, efficient and thorough.
Consultant, XPRIZE
Very committed, they create beautiful apps and are very benevolent. They have brilliant Ideas.
Founder, S.T.A.R.S of Wellness
Mindbowser was great; they listened to us a lot and helped us hone in on the actual idea of the app. They had put together fantastic wireframes for us.
Co-Founder, Flat Earth
Ayush was responsive and paired me with the best team member possible, to complete my complex vision and project. Could not be happier.
Founder, Child Life On Call
The team from Mindbowser stayed on task, asked the right questions, and completed the required tasks in a timely fashion! Strong work team!
CEO, SDOH2Health LLC
Mindbowser was easy to work with and hit the ground running, immediately feeling like part of our team.
CEO, Stealth Startup
Mindbowser was an excellent partner in developing my fitness app. They were patient, attentive, & understood my business needs. The end product exceeded my expectations. Thrilled to share it globally.
Owner, Phalanx
Mindbowser's expertise in tech, process & mobile development made them our choice for our app. The team was dedicated to the process & delivered high-quality features on time. They also gave valuable industry advice. Highly recommend them for app development...
Co-Founder, Fox&Fork
