Why Do You Need to Start a Telehealth Business?
According to Statista, the telemedicine market has shown significant growth in recent years. As of 2019, the telehealth global market was valued at some 45 billion U.S. dollars. It is anticipated that the market will progress fairly by 2026 and is expected to be priced at more than 175 billion U.S. dollars at that time. Many factors have contributed to the growth of the telemedicine market including increased traditional healthcare costs, funding for telemedicine, coronavirus pandemic, and an increase in the number of digital health users.
In this article, we will find out why telehealth is the future of traditional healthcare. Also, we will take a look at some of the facts about the telehealth business.
What Is Telemedicine?
According to Wikipedia, telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It allows long-distance patient and clinician contact, care, advice, reminders, education, intervention, monitoring, and remote admissions. Telemedicine means using information and communication technologies to improve patient access to care and medical information and to help improve patient health outcomes.
Originally, this technology was used for those who lived in distant regions without access to healthcare services at a local clinic. At first, it was used only for urgent cases, but telemedicine technology has turned into a convenient tool.
These days consumers can buy clothes and groceries and pay their bills without leaving their homes. Technology has solved their healthcare needs as well. Today, healthcare providers are making telemedicine websites and mobile apps.
Telehealth in Mobile Apps
The mobile app market is expanding and reaching more industries because the phone has become an undeniable part of our lifestyle and daily routine. Healthcare is no exception to this technological trend. Currently, it is one of the industries that is making an impact on the mobile app market because people are interested in taking care of their health with more comfort instead of going for an appointment to a clinic.
Telemedicine is among the top-rated healthcare technology trends in 2020, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth platform development has one of the highest profit potentials today and will remain an effective business model in the near future as more people are getting interested in convenient healthcare services. Telehealth apps include doctor and patient profiles, chat, and the possibility to conduct both audio and video calls.
Today is the best time to invest in telehealth app development since the demand for the niche is growing. According to ATA Telehealth Basics, from 2017 to 2023 the global telemedicine market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 16.8%.
Now let`s talk about the benefits that telehealth can offer.
What Are Telemedicine Apps Benefits?
Both doctors and patients are very satisfied with the service. A Massachusetts General Hospital`s study in 2019 found that 79% of respondents perceived telemedicine as more convenient in terms of scheduling, 83% felt that the care was as good or better than an in-person visit, and 66% felt personally connected to their telehealth practitioner. Also, clinician adoption has increased by 340%, according to a 2019 survey of 800 physicians. So, below we will cover some of the benefits:
For Patients
1) Time-Saving
When a patient has issues like catching a cold or going down with a fever, medical apps save time on getting to a doctor’s office for an appointment.
They can connect with their doctor using the mobile app and get the correct diagnosis and medication in a few minutes.
2) Easy Access to Any Doctor
This is one of the major reasons to start the telehealth business. Most people around the globe are living in rural and remote areas that don’t always have all types of doctors and medical specialists available in the nearby area.
So they have to travel to a faraway location to get a consultation from a doctor. Using these apps, they can connect with any specialist they need to see.
3) 24-hours service
Also, one of the most important advantages of using telemedicine applications is that patients can get assistance from a doctor 24 hours a day. So whenever they have a medical question or feel unwell, they can go to the app and resolve their concerns.
For Doctors
1) Better Treatment Prescriptions
As the app holds the record of every little detail of a patient, it enhances the decision-making process.
2) Time-Saving
As the basic consultation process in the app is automated, thus a doctor can save time on essential paperwork. There is no need to fill out different forms and internal documentation if you are working with the app.
The app itself shares the data with the doctor at the start of a session.
3) Extensive Patient Reach
It is a sad fact that doctors, especially subspecialty experts, are not available in rural and low-populated areas.
The app helps the doctor to reach their patients no matter where they are and provide the necessary help.
The market trends show that the need for telemedicine apps is enormous in the global market. But before diving into this business area, it is important to understand that telemedicine app development is definitely not the easiest type of software project that you can develop in a week. So if you would like to create such an app, contact us and we will make the first step towards your telehealth business together.
