Our national response to the COVID crisis has brought telemedicine to the forefront. It has also redefined what telemedicine is, but not necessarily in a good way. Most people think of telemedicine as little more than video calls between medical professionals and patients. Video calls are part of the equation, but true telemedicine has to go much further to be optimally effective.
What we do here at CSI Health creates telemedicine solutions that go above and beyond video calls. Most of our efforts focus heavily on remote screenings and advanced diagnostic tools. Our goal is to provide full diagnostic capabilities in remote environments, thus facilitating the same level of care patients would otherwise get at the doctor’s office.
Video Only Goes So Far
Please do not misunderstand the point of this post. We are in no way against video calls. Like you, we think they are a fantastic tool for meeting with people remotely. But video only goes so far when it comes to diagnosing medical problems. Without the tools for remote diagnostics, a doctor cannot reach through a video device to listen to a patient’s heartbeat or check blood pressure.
Video calls are great for conversations. They work well enough when doctors and patients only need to consult. But when diagnostic practices are called for, medical professionals need the diagnostic tools. That is what our revolutionary products offer.
Eliminating the Office Environment
We firmly believe in the future of remote health screening solutions, including healthcare and medical kiosks. In fact, we believe it is possible that more advanced telemedicine solutions will eventually eliminate office visits altogether. We have a long way to go before that day is realized. But between now and then, the technology to get the ball rolling already exists.
Thanks to advanced computer technology and high-speed internet, it is now possible to offer a range of diagnostics in a remote environment. For example, our ex-one Mobile unit comes with multiple diagnostic devices including digital stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, EKG/ECG, and ultrasound/sonogram. All are devices you would find in just about any primary care office.
Not only that, but each of our remote telemedicine solutions is also capable of sending diagnostic data directly to the provider’s location in real time. Systems can also be set up to feed data directly into a provider’s existing electronic healthcare records (EHR) system. We pretty much eliminate the office environment by offering providers all the same tools in a remote package.
Telemedicine’s Time Is Now
Decades ago, the only remote medical kiosks were those standalone blood pressure booths frequently found in corner pharmacies and grocery stores. So much has changed in the last 20 years. Today, we have moved beyond basic DIY blood pressure kiosks to highly advanced healthcare kiosks capable of so much more.
All of this leads us to assert that telemedicine’s time is now. Telemedicine technology has been around for a while, but our healthcare industry has been slow to adapt. Providers have been comfortable with a delivery environment they were in no hurry to change. But then COVID hit. That forced providers to begin offering telemedicine options.
Now that telemedicine is out in the open, consumers want it. Likewise, retail healthcare environments looking to compete directly with primary care offices and hospitals are not afraid to leverage telemedicine solutions and medical kiosks. Competing with them will force traditional providers to keep up or be left behind.
Acting as the foundation are remote diagnostics that go beyond simple video calls. That is what we are about here at CSI Health. We would love the opportunity to talk more about it with you.
