Telemedicine: The Present and the Future

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in unprecedented changes in all aspects of life including health care. In March 2020, the beginning of pandemic in India coincided with the Indian government allowing telemedicine and laying down norms for the practice of telemedicine in India. Before this time, telemedicine was practiced in a very limited way.[1] For example, at the Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, there was a facility for specialty departments to interact with doctors working at the district health centers. On fixed days, a patient from a district health center could be shown on video and a lecturer in a specialty department would do a long distance consultation, and in this exercise, we had understood that this mode of communication is indeed very helpful in our setting; as there is a shortage of subspecialists in rural India. From March 2020, telemedicine was taken up in a big way and became one of the pillars of health care in COVID ravaged India. The initial fears and inexperience were short lived and it soon became clear to doctors as well as patients that this is a viable mode of interaction. One could easily establish rapid communication and provide timely advice. Renewal of prescriptions and handling simple information became easier. Industry grew around this requirement and service providers upgraded telecommunication and organized it. Taking appointments on the web, managing the audio and video consultations and providing advice became further streamlined and at the present time multiple such avenues are available to us in India. Private and public sector establishments started these services for their patients as did the solo practitioners. The government has laid down guidelines for new consultations, follow-ups, prescribing various categories of medications, and stressed the important fact that this mode of consultation can be undertaken only for patients who reside in India at the time of the consultation.