In this article, the promising aspects about telehealth are discussed, specifically in the context of Covid-19. Because patients want the most convenient and inexpensive medical care, it is up for debate if perhaps telehealth is the answer and should be the primary method of care. The pros of telehealth are definitely significant – one can communicate with their doctors over messaging rather than quick questions and smaller issues (this will likely save both time and money for the doctor and patient). In addition, in the sense of the pandemic, limiting travel to the hospital to see your doctor in addition to preventing exposure to Covid-19 is very important and certainly a notable benefit for online medical care. The article even proposed an idea for an “Electronic intensive care unit (e-ICU) monitoring programs, which allow nurses and physicians to remotely monitor the status of 60-100 patients in ICUs in multiple hospitals”. This seems like a bit of a stretch as those who deem qualified to be in the ICU likely need the best care possible.

I found this article very interesting – not only in the context of the pandemic, but being a college student away from my regular doctors, I have found telehealth very convenient and helpful. An issue I have found with telehealth, though, is that sometimes when you are out of the state in which your doctor works, you are not allowed to meet with them online due to insurance problems; this is something that will need to be worked out if telehealth continues to increase in popularity and perhaps even becomes the primary method in which we seek medical care.