Telehealth has become a vitally important part of today’s healthcare, and for urgent care practice, patients can highly benefit from telehealth services as they can provide meaningful, responsive interactions in urgent care scenarios. Telehealth has been rising over the last ten years, as the integration of telehealth services has nearly doubled in growth, and about 75% of today’s hospitals in the United States now use telehealth services as part of today’s standard of care. Over time, more practices will be able to integrate these systems into their models of treatment, and for patients, it provides them with the security they need to address medical problems and find treatments. But what exactly is telehealth all about? Here’s how it’s changing everything.

How Does Telehealth Work in Today’s Healthcare

Telehealth refers to telecommunication and electronic technologies we use every day to provide healthcare services at a distance. A sub-branch of this, called telemedicine, works by delivering medical treatments from a distance, such as a physician interacting with a patient at a different location. Telehealth, however, covers a broader range of services, incorporating aspects of low-risk urgent care, medication management, chronic condition monitoring, and health coaching sessions.

Because of today’s technology, patients can now access their health services through chat, voice calls, phone, email, patient portals, and even monitoring devices. All of these methods provide different forms of communication, allowing physicians to monitor their patient’s health, communicate with patients at different times, and review information for health conditions.

How Can Telehealth Be Used In Urgent Care

In urgent care, telehealth services can provide patients in urgent situations with the resources they need in a timely manner. Telehealth can be argued as being more crucial in certain situations due to its reliable forms of communication. But in regards to what types of visits can be used, how physicians can treat patients and other means of urgent care services, patients can experience multiple benefits, including:

• Eliminates Unneeded ER Visits: For patients faced with urgent but not emergency situations such as severe allergies, coughing fits, and other conditions, patients can determine with their urgent care physicians what their conditions are and what treatments they need removing the need for ER visits.
• Reduces Illness Exposure: Patients faced with illnesses or chronic immune deficiencies can reduce the risk of illness exposure from others by opting into telehealth visits with their physicians. In urgent scenarios, physicians can provide recommendations and referrals to specialists.
• Improved Timeliness of Care: Telehealth appointments also work to improve the quality of care, providing a quick and easy way to receive treatment in a timely manner.
• Lifesaving Consultations: Patients under significant stress related to their symptoms can find lifesaving resources and, if necessary, be recommended to ER services for further treatment.

Telehealth comes with many benefits for urgent care. If you need urgent care and are unable to find the time or resources for an in-person appointment, reach out to your local urgent care practice to find out about treatment options, specialists in your area, and ways your urgent care physician can help promote better health.