It is no secret that the COVID-19 global pandemic dramatically impacted how physicians throughout the world would care for patients moving forward. Due to public health measures instituted throughout the world, being in a medical office with a non-emergency patient became near impossible for some time.
Now, even though clinics in many regions are running at full force once again and able to welcome patients in-house, a good number of them are still choosing to add a virtual element to their day-to-day operations.
In fact, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA), a staggering 93% of physicians are "conducting live, interactive video visits with patients." What's more, 85% say they are using some form of telehealth (which includes audio-only interactions) to care for patients.
"It really heartens me to see that so many of my colleagues are not just using telehealth, but also focusing mightily on the usage of video visit technology," offers Dr. Richard Tytus, Co-Founder and Medical Director of Banty Inc., a telehealth solution provider that's aim is to provide the medical community with an easy and secure platform clinics can use to conduct virtual appointments.
Continues Dr. Tytus: "When the COVID-19 global pandemic stopped the world in its tracks, many physicians were ill-prepared. Now, they have had the better part of two years to not just implement a reliable telehealth solution, but also learn how to use it to improve patient care and the way in which a clinic functions on a day-to-day basis."
Elsewhere in the AMA survey, six in 10 respondents either agreed, or strongly agreed, that telehealth helped them provide "high-quality care," while 56% said they are "motivated" to increase telehealth usage at their clinics.
"I expect that over time both of those figures will grow exponentially," offers Dr. Tytus. "Personally, I was conducting video visits with patients well before the pandemic. As such, I discovered that the more I was able to have such virtual appointments with patients, the more interested I became in expanding my telehealth usage. Doing so really opens up a physician's ability to give all patients the best care possible.
"In the years ahead, as more and more doctors develop a greater comfort with telehealth, more will agree, or strongly agree, that sch a high-end technological tool helped them offer amazing patient care. I know that offering patients a virtual option has made my practice much, much stronger over the years."
Thanks to TMCnet.com for this coverage of Banty!