Telemedicine: A Paradigm Shift in Healthcare

Telemedicine is found to be a disruptive event that has brought major transitions to the health care industry by transforming care for a number of health care services. This review paper tries to explore the implications of telemedicine on care in the health industry, the possibilities of telemedicine causing a shift in the delivery of traditional care, as well as what telemedicine implies. It begins with the introduction of telemedicine concepts. This is achieved by highlighting the various applications of telemedicine such as telemonitoring, teleconsultation, tele-education, as well as various technologies that enable telemedicine to occur. It then outlines the various advantages of telemedicine such as enhancing patient outcomes, reducing the cost of health care, enhancing the accessibility of various health care services, as well as enhancing the efficiency of health care delivery. Telemedicine is one of the approaches that has managed to revolutionize practices in the current world of medicine that is being carried out remotely using information technology solutions. Telemedicine bridges the gap that has occurred between patients and medical practitioners for a long time since patients are attended to remotely through various forms of consultations, diagnoses, and treatment sessions.