In the United States, pain is commonly untreated due to different barriers like geographic distance, a functional disability that limits mobility, stigma related to treatment, economic limitations, as well as educational obstacles. The undertreatment of pain can worsen and cause emotional disruption to the patient’s quality of life.
The growing field of telehealth can help with these barriers and offer an opportunity to expand pain assessment, consultation, and treatment services for patients. Telehealth is the distribution of health-related services and information through electronic information and telecommunication technologies. Telehealth allows for long-distance patient and provider contact for care. These technologies, like FaceTime and Zoom, are services that are becoming an essential component of the health care system.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth is emerging as an effective and sustainable solution for precaution, prevention, and treatment. It can bridge the gap between people, physicians, and health systems, allowing for symptomatic patients to stay home and communicate with physicians through virtual channels. Telehealth is excellent because it can help reduce the spread of the virus to the mass population and medical staff.
Telehealth is uniquely suited to address the needs of patients, and there are numerous recommendations for moving the field of telehealth pain management forward. We can’t wait to see how it evolves in the next few years!
Austin Spine & Wellness Center Text or Call (512) 501-1770
Photo Credit: https://www.medidata.com/en/blog/speedbump-or-wall-medidata-s-joe-dustin-talks-mhealth-centerwatch-monthly/
This is great! Patients love the convenience, flexibility and real-time care with their providers.
This pandemic has really helped everyone see the viability in Video Conferencing as a flexible, yet reliable, solution. Great article!