Technological advancement has played a major role in shaping not only the health sector but the world at large.
Worthy of note is the invention of artificial intelligence which has proven to be applicable in diverse fields including programming, photography and in other fields of life.
The application of technology to medicine has proven to be very effective. With the help of technology, some procedures that may seem like it requires the surgeon to open the patient, can be done without the patient being opened up. Example of this procedure is the TURP, Transurethral resection of the prostate.
Technology has positively influenced the health sector, most especially in the aspect of laboratory science.
Irrespective of how big the impact of technology is in the health sector, there are many departments which it can not take over. Example of such department is the General Out-patient Department.
Inarguably, patients can see their doctors online without the need, or hassle of going to the hospital. Technology has grown to the extent where a patient can be in the comfort of their home and receive medical advice or prescription from the doctor.
it is very amazing to see how advanced the work of technology is and how great it has impacted the medical space. Telemedecine has some benefits which mainly involves seeing the doctor without having to face the stress to going to the hospital. Even with this, Telemedicine can not replace in-person visits. There are many things to consider.
Some of the reasons of saying this are as follows;
Before the medical team makes a diagnosis, there are many things they need to observe first. Observation starts as soon as the patient steps into the hospital.
The nurse's eyes are like a scanner, they observer the patient from head to toe even before they get their vital signs. There are many things which the nurse check, things like - how the hair is, how the eyes are, how good the patient appear, any swollen part of the head, any visible bruises, is oedema present? how are they walking and why? All these and more are what the nurses observe during in-person visits. Some of these may be seen during telemedical visits, but mostly, the data acquired by the doctor is the subjective data that the patient give. However they will not be able to observe properly the objective data.
Aside that, there are other things the medical team may want to do, things like examinations that require physical contact with the patient. Checking vital signs also require the presence of the patient, based on these few points, telemedicine can actually improve hospital services to an extent, but not replace out-patient visits.
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