Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2019, the telemedicine market has been significantly growing in different places up to date. Telehealth emerged as a vital component of overall healthcare during the pandemic. Physical distancing was implemented in many different places worldwide to minimize the spread of coronavirus disease. As a result, the adoption of outpatient appointments through telemedicine has been growing. Read on to get insight into the growth of telemedicine trends in 2021.
What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine involves modern technology that allows a healthcare provider to care for the patients remotely. The physician does not need to be physically present when providing care to the patients, and both parties can share information in real-time via their devices. With telemedicine, the patients can get diagnoses and treatment without waiting for an appointment. In short, telemedicine involves the remote delivery of various healthcare services like diagnosis, consultation, patient monitoring, and management via video conferencing.
Benefits of Telemedicine
Telemedicine software and electronic communications provide patients with clinical services remotely. In other words, the patient receives medical attention without an in-person visit by the healthcare provider. The physician can diagnose the patient using a smartphone or video conferencing. Healthcare providers at Reliant Urgent Care state that technology is primarily used for the provision of clinical services and management of chronic conditions. You can use your smartphone or any other device to connect with a medical provider in real-time. You may not need to visit the physician in person with this facility since everything takes place online.
Telemedicine Growth Trends
The Global Telemedicine Market is expected to grow significantly from $83 billion in 2020 to reach $319 billion in 2025 with a CAGR of about 30.9%. The market is expected to continue growing and the regions mainly covered include Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, and other parts of the world. The countries leading in providing telehealth services include the U.S., U.K., Canada, Italy, China, Japan, France, Germany, India, South East Asia, and Africa. However, Africa and other parts of the developing world are trailing behind in terms of the development of telemedicine services.
North America is dominating the telemedicine sector due to advanced technology and awareness of the significance of this method of medication among the citizens. Europe comes second due to improvements in the government’s guidelines toward the adoption of digital health. Additionally, chronic diseases are also on the rise in Europe, and telemedicine is an effective way of providing remote healthcare services to patients.
Telemedicine is cost-effective since the patients require constant monitoring. Elements like poor diet, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and low activity contribute to most chronic diseases. The patients usually require home care and telemedicine comes as a great option to help the healthcare providers to work remotely while providing much-needed service to the clients.
Factors Driving Telemedicine
The rising cases of chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, and other lifestyle-associated diseases like poor nutrition and lack of exercise drive the growth of telemedicine. The high prevalence of chronic diseases promotes the growth of telemedicine since the patients require special care in the comfort of their homes. Technological innovations are also promoting telemedicine since they enhance remote patient monitoring. In other words, the doctor can monitor the patient in real-time without visiting them physically.
The other driving factor of telemedicine is the rising costs of healthcare across the globe. Private players are becoming active players in the healthcare sector, and their costs are generally higher than government-provided services. Telehealth services have shown that they can go a long way in reducing costs while at the same time enhancing health outcomes. Telemedicine helps the consumers save money while at the same time increasing efficiency in the management of chronic diseases, reducing patient travel times, shorter and fewer hospital stays.
The COVID-19 global pandemic has affected almost every sector across the spectrum, and healthcare has been the hardest hit. The increase in coronavirus infections has fueled the overall growth of the Global Telemedicine Market. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of March 2021, there have been close to 1.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and about 2.4 million deaths globally. As a result, more people increasingly prefer to deal with their doctors without any physical contact. This has contributed to the significant growth of the Telemedicine market. However, middle and lower-income countries are still lagging in the adoption of telemedicine due to technological barriers and high-cost installation.