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Telemedicine vs Virtual Care: What’s the Difference?
Submitted by Guest Contributor:
Mednow Team
The remote mode has become the most beneficial one to delivering medical care. This survey shows that the number of remote health care providers has increased by 41 percent between the years 2018 to 2020. This market had a hype, particularly during this covid pandemic.
This shows the demand and the efficiency of remote health care. More and more patients have benefited from this mode. It is also effective for health care providers. And thus, it becomes a win-win.
There are a variety of methods in which remote healthcare is delivered to the patients. Telemedicine and virtual health care may seem the same. But they have a lot of differences. Read the article clearly to know the difference between these two and which one is good for you to go with.
The Difference Between Telemedicine and Virtual Healthcare
Courtesy Mednow
Imagine a patient is suffering from fever. Normally, he would go to the doctor for a consultation. The doctor will check his condition and he will prescribe him some medicine. After the consultation, he will have to handle it all by himself. The patient has to take the medicine himself to cure his fever. If the same thing happens over a call, it is called Telemedicine. The doctor will evaluate his health and prescribe the patient some medicines over the call. In short, telemedicine can be best defined as virtual consultation with the doctor.
If the same person suffering from fever is in a serious condition, he would get admitted to the hospital for more care. His medications and health conditions will be monitored regularly. He gets frequent follow-ups from the nurse. This can happen virtually too. It is known as virtual care or virtual health care. The healthcare professionals constantly monitor the patient remotely. The care given here will be almost equal to that of being admitted to the hospital.
Virtual consultation with the doctor is telemedicine and virtual full-time monitoring by the healthcare professionals is called virtual health care. The difference between telemedicine and virtual health care is that simple.
Now that you are clear with the difference, you may wonder which one would be the right choice for you. That’s exactly where we help you with. We’ve jotted down some of the advantages and disadvantages of the two. Read this article fully to get a clear picture before deciding between them.
Individual Attention
In telemedicine, you can only expect the doctor’s prescriptions. Follow-ups are quite impossible in this case. Hence it is not the right one to go with if you are looking for individual attention. Whereas in virtual care, you will be fully monitored by the health care professionals. They give you frequent follow-ups. Individual attention is certain in virtual healthcare.
We suggest you go with virtual healthcare if you want individual attention. If you are not looking for full-time monitoring, you can go with telemedicine.
The Seriousness of Your Illness
Courtesy Mednow
Another major factor to consider before making your choice is the seriousness of your Illness. If you feel that your Illness is intense, you must go with virtual healthcare as you will be fully monitored by the healthcare professionals. This method will ease your discomfort and help cure your Illness as soon as possible. If you think that your Illness is mild and can be caused easily, telemedicine would be your best choice.
Accuracy
Sometimes, the information you give to the doctor over the call would not be enough to judge your condition. In this case, you will have to be under the surveillance of the healthcare professionals. This is not a choice but the only option left as your Illness needs surveillance to be judged. Telemedicine can not help as it is a short-term process. So if you are having abnormal and unpredictable symptoms, be smart enough to be treated accurately.
Fast Cure
As virtual healthcare can give you more attention and care, the cure becomes easy and fast. Whereas in telemedicine, you will have to handle it all by yourself. You will not have any experts by your side to look after you. In this case, the cure eventually gets delayed. You would miss out on the smartest way to get cured easily.
Courtesy Mednow
Affordability
Telemedicine is just a virtual consultation for your Illness. It would not cost you that much. While the case is the straight opposite when it comes to virtual healthcare. In this case, the experts spend one on one time looking after you. So it will definitely cost you a little more investment. If you get to choose between money and health, health should be your priority. However, we understand that it is still difficult for a few people to afford the expert service. But the choice is completely yours.
Support
It again comes down to the support you have. If you have any of your family members to take care of you, you would not need full-time surveillance. You will be good to go with telemedicine. In conditions like Covid-19, it’s quite challenging. It is also important for your family members to stay safe to lead their life effectively. If this is your case, health professionals are always here to look after you no matter what. You are more than welcome to take virtual healthcare to get that homely care you deserve.
To conclude, telemedicine is short-term support whereas virtual health care is full-time support. To sum up, with what we have discussed in this article, virtual health care has a lot more advantages than telemedicine. The most important factor is the cure. When you can get cured easily and fast, what more can you ask for? Isn’t that your utmost goal?
Think more than twice before selecting between telemedicine and virtual health care. Consider all the factors said above before making your choice. We also recommend you directly ask professionals like us to help you out with the decision. We evaluate your condition and suggest you the best method that will suit your needs. Will you be interested in doing that?
Yes, I want an expert to help me with my decision!
Mednow.ca
Mednow is a fully licensed Canadian pharmacy that delivers all your pharmacy needs right to your door with fast and free delivery to multiple provinces across Canada.
For more information about Mednow, please contact them at YourCare@Mednow.ca or visit them online.
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