Rare conditions can be managed using telehealth solutions
There are many rare conditions that people can suffer from, but the biggest problem is that many of them don’t get enough attention and it’s very difficult for patients suffering from those conditions to get proper treatment.
Today, we are going to be talking about some of these rare conditions and how telemedicine can be used to manage them.
Over seven thousand rare conditions have been diagnosed in people and their rarity can lead to frustrating situations. The problem is that due to how strange some of the conditions are, the treatment options are not optimal.
The frustrating is shared by both the patient and the doctor because rare diseases are about trial and error in many ways. This leads to a lot more visits to the doctor than most people would even expect. That alone can be a serious hassle and the main reason why telemedicine is so useful and practical.
The following are some conditions that can be managed successfully by using telemedicine.
Rare disease treatment
Conditions like mesothelioma, which is a very rare type of cancer that is extremely difficult to treat, but if the disease is caught early, the life expectancy can be increased. Telemedicine has actually been able to help people catch the condition early by allowing doctors to look into the initial symptoms.
There are many other rare conditions that affect a number of people all over the world, some of them affect enough people to raise concern, but even the rarest of conditions should be a concern. The medical community is only able to do as much as funding allows. This is one reason why it takes a long time to see results.
A rare disease is not as rare as people think. Some of these conditions affect hundreds of thousands all over the world, so having the name “rare” is not something to take literally. There is always need for a cure and for better treatment options regardless of how rare a condition might be.
The number of people that are affected by these conditions is huge. It just seems small when compared to the number of people who are diagnosed with other more common conditions.
Many patients are showing interest
It seems like at least 90% of patients suffering from rare diseases are interested in being able to make use of telemedicine and they want to learn how to make use of video calls. This is definitely promising and very interesting to see because it means that they can see the benefits.
If you think about the value and importance of telemedicine for rare conditions, it’s easy to see how this is going to help patients save time and money.
This is a treatment option that is groundbreaking and effective in helping monitor patients suffering from all kinds of conditions.
The fact that HD quality video is also more common is very important.
This allows doctors to evaluate any part of the body with a clearer image. That and the ability to talk to the patient while they are doing the video conference is a very effective and efficient way for people to achieve success.
Last year there were over 30 million telemedicine visits. This alone is a huge indicator of how incredibly popular this has been. We are entering a whole new era in terms of how technology is used for medical purposes and telemedicine is the next big step.
It’s very important for more corporation to get involved and help bring Telemedicine to the mainstream for optimal results. The more people know about this powerful technology, the more likely that they will be interested in making use of it as often as possible.
Helping Americans with chronic conditions
According to Healthcare Weekly, Over 133 million Americans have been diagnosed with a chronic condition. This is a large number of people that need to be able to find a way to get constant treatment and monitoring of their conditions. The best thing to do is to make sure that they can gain access to telemedicine in order to be able to get frequent consultations with their doctor.
The beauty of telemedicine is that patients can increase consultation frequency without leaving their homes. Some solutions are so convenient we couldn’t have even imagined this type of interaction a few years back. For example, a company called HelloAlvin allows consumers to facilitate their first telemedicine via text messages.
This is especially good for patients with rare conditions that might not be comfortable having to go out often for consultations. The time that is saved thanks to telemedicine is very important, but giving patients the comfort of not having to leave their homes is even more valuable.
Rare disease trials
One of the hardest things to do is to start trials for rare disease treatment. This is even harder when lack of funds keeps any significant research from getting started and this makes the process very frustrating for those who try to help patients suffering from rare conditions.
Telemedicine is helping revolutionize the way that patients interact with their doctors and this is definitely very helpful when it comes to the treatment of rare diseases.
The internet and communication in general are also going to play a major role in this. The most relevant thing is to ensure that the word continues to spread in regards to the use of telemedicine to help patients find better treatment options.
We are going to see a huge change in the way that doctors handle patient consultations, and the most valuable aspect of this is that they will be able to see more patients on a daily basis. Telemedicine helps makes the process of consultations a lot easier to handle in terms of how long each consultation takes.
Final thoughts
One of the most important things to consider is that the use of telemedicine has just started to gain momentum. We can expect to see a much larger number of doctors and patients who are going to be interacting through the use of telemedicine.
Even famous doctors have gone on board and are now supporting telemedicine solutions. In a recent podcast, Simon Stertzer, the father of modern heart surgeries, expressed his support for telemedicine especially when it comes to the process of managing chronic conditions.
We can expect telemedicine to help early diagnosis of rare conditions as well as more successful treatment options. The possibilities are limitless and we are definitely going to see some important changes in the coming years.
