Medicine is one of the most advanced areas of human activity. Everybody periodically encounters diseases, the question is only in their complexity, as well as in the possibility of getting to a specialist. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to visit a specialist: someone lives too far from the hospital, while others simply do not have enough time for this. It was for such cases that a separate branch was singled out - telemedicine.
Telemedicine
Those people who are faced with this concept for the first time should understand for themselves two simple truths: it is extremely simple and has nothing to do with television. This is the name given to medical care that is provided using a variety of means of communication, including telephone or the Internet. With the help of telemedicine, doctors provide remote consultative assistance related to treatment or diagnosis, for example, a competent telemedicine can decipher the results spine mri.
How exactly telemedicine originated and in what country it happened is very difficult to say. For some reason, it is believed that America is its homeland, but long before that, at the beginning of the past century, in the same Norway, using radio communication, they consulted members of expeditions who went to pole. Over time, this part of medicine has evolved, using communication to provide emergency assistance in critical situations. In the United States, they went even further, hoping in this way to reduce the cost of medical care, and allocated telemedicine in a separate direction. Here it has developed best of all, it is debugged both at the system level and at the legislative level. In Russia, telemedicine, one might say, is just emerging and it is very far from a full-fledged industry.
Remote but not comprehensive help
As in any other industry, there are limitations here, depending primarily on the way patients are treated - through video and audio communication. If suddenly the patient decides to seek help from a teledoctor, and he has complaints of injuries of the musculoskeletal system, sharp headaches, pain in the chest, ear or abdomen, sudden weakness, hearing loss and other similar symptoms, then it is best for him to immediately go directly to clinic. There he will be able to do a full examination: mri in St. Petersburg, laboratory and other diagnostic tests. Unfortunately, modern communication means cannot cope with problems requiring inspection and diagnostics.
The first thing you can turn to a teledoctor for is psychological help. The means of communication seem to be specially created to provide such consultations: both the patient and the psychologist do not care where the other is. In fact, projects have already been implemented where, for a fairly symbolic monthly fee, you can contact a specialist at any time of the day and from anywhere. The psychologist himself may be on the other side of the world. Another fertile area for telemedicine is skin diseases. Here, analyzes are needed only in especially difficult cases, but basically only visual examination and questioning of the patient is used. For treatment, only one group of drugs is used, so the appointment is also done without any problems.
They also turn to a teledoctor with minor infections that are still at an early stage and have not yet brought complications. It is quite possible to get help for sinusitis, cystitis and similar diseases, when they are easily diagnosed and do not require radical measures. Remotely, the doctor can help with control in the postoperative period, preventing the development of complications. One of the most popular areas of work is decoding research results such as tomography, x-rays and others. In situations where a person has all the information on hand, but cannot get to the doctor, for example, due to living in a remote area or weather conditions, he can receive comprehensive information without leaving at home.