With the help of digital health services, it is possible to ensure that the patient receives digital distance assistance where they are. Whether they are at home or traveling, digital healthcare can be designed to best help patients.
Digital health services will be a positive change in the health care system, in the same way that ambulances were equipped with an ECG machine at the beginning of the 2000s.
This enabled the ambulances to send ECGs to the hospitals. Then the patients can either be rushed to the heart center, or, if necessary, have thrombolysis administered in the ambulance.
Lower the threshold and increase access
With the help of digital health services, one can lower the threshold for requesting health care. Many people are reluctant to call an emergency room or ambulance unnecessarily, and with good digital services they can get advice on what they should do in different situations.
Digital distance assistance will also be able to increase the availability of health services for many. This can be for those with a long journey, chronic pain or the elderly who for various reasons have difficulty getting to the doctor's office.
Better follow-up
At the same time as health services will become more accessible, it will also be possible to improve follow-up for those with chronic diseases.
With the help of technical solutions, patients can feel confident that they are receiving the right treatment at the right time.
This in the form of measurements the patient can perform himself, monitoring of symptoms and consultations that can be carried out without physical attendance.
This combination will make it possible to detect disease or changes early and provide extra patient security.
Treatment at home
In addition to monitoring and measuring various values, many patients can benefit from treatment at home using digital distance assistance.
These can be resources for learning to administer their own medication, training relatives, or direct treatment of the patient, for example in the form of them receiving follow-up by a physiotherapist via video.
Quality assurance of health services while traveling
Digital distance assistance can also be used to ensure the quality of health services when traveling. With the help of good digital solutions, you will be able to ensure predictable health services, prevent overtreatment and save time and money if you become ill when traveling abroad.
This will also be helpful for insurance companies, which can save money. They spend millions every year on overtreated patients abroad.
In many cases, Norwegians traveling have spent both time and money at local clinics before connecting the insurance company, and often the bill has become as long as a bad year.
It will also make it easier for companies to comply with their duty of care towards employees in areas with less accessible health services.
Safe treatment abroad through digital distance assistance
Most healthcare needs that arise while traveling can be addressed in a safe and efficient way through digital healthcare. Those who are traveling are still dependent on those who provide assistance from Norway being well acquainted with the health services locally, and that they can cooperate with them.
The company I have recently been involved with, AMS, has extensive experience in international assistance in health matters and patient transport. They are therefore a natural choice for this type of service.
Plan ahead
No one plans to get sick while on vacation. However, should the accident occur, or if you have existing underlying diseases, it is important that the trip is planned together with health personnel. It is also very important that the on-site therapist has access to the patient's medical history and which medicines they use.
With the right solutions within digital distance assistance and a small box with sensors, Norwegians traveling, in Norway or around the world, can receive predictable and good health care from Norwegian health personnel.
As a patient, you do not have to worry unnecessarily and waste valuable holiday time. At the same time, insurance companies can save good money on quality assurance and follow up their customers with the right treatment if needed, at the right time.
The doctor's office comes to the patient
Even if you are not traveling, you can with simple equipment and digital guidance get the doctor's home to yourself. Patients on the outskirts of Norway can do several of the examinations that are usually performed at the doctor's office.
Via a small box from Tytocare, eClinic delivers the equipment you need for yourself and the family's use.
Small communities can also join forces on the equipment and receive qualified distance assistance from health personnel. Local health professionals, volunteers or emergency care providers, can help the patient so that he receives advanced health care via digital solutions.
We are already doing this to a certain extent today.
- We call either the emergency room or the GP, get advice by phone and even observe the condition at home.
- We make an appointment with the GP or travel to the emergency room for more emergency help.
- In a few cases a doctor is sent out, but usually you are picked up by an ambulance if the condition is serious.
Advantages and disadvantages of today's system
Although the system works quite well today, there are still some risks with it:
- Many refuse to contact the health service
- The patient or relatives are unable to convey a correct symptom picture over the telephone.
- Patients who are asked to observe the condition at home are unsure of what symptoms are danger signs and do not contact the health service in the event of a worsening condition.
- Patients are unable to perform important measurements due to lack of equipment.
This will often lead to patients becoming insecure and searching the Internet for a possible diagnosis. The diagnosis is often incorrect and makes the patient more anxious.
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We have more than 100 affiliated nurses, doctors and specialists. We are expanding with new specialties and services for online consultations. Our specialists can also offer a "second opinion."
Digital distance assistance can bring change
All of these are things digital distance assistance can change, especially with the help of patients being equipped with important measuring equipment at home.
eClinic's delivery of boxes from Tytocare enables the patient and relatives to observe symptoms better, and give healthcare professionals a better picture of symptoms.
This increases patient safety, and makes it possible to provide the right treatment early in the course of the disease.
Is digital distance assistance as good as "analogue" health services?
One can be completely confident that digital distance assistance maintains at least as good a standard as the "analogue" health services. In fact, statistics show that many physical visits can be completely replaced by digital distance assistance.
Figures compiled by the American company McKinsey shows that approximately 20% of emergency room visits could have been handled through digital solutions. 24% of doctor visits could be digital consultations, and around 9% could have been handled through a combination of digital and physical consultations.
One can imagine a combination of taking samples in the laboratory, but discussing the results in a digital consultation. In addition, approx. 35% of home visits have been completed digitally. 2% of patients at outpatient clinics could receive treatment at home, using technology-administered medication.
This amounts to approximately 250 billion US health dollars that could have been used in the e-health sector in 2020 if the changes were introduced.