Telemedicine | Aetna (2024)

FAQs

Does telemedicine really work? ›

Takeaways. Telemedicine can be a good way to manage a chronic condition or your prescriptions, talk to your therapist or psychiatrist, or deal with urgent but not life-threatening issues like colds and urinary tract infections.

Telehealth technologies allow healthcare providers to check in with patients between visits. Implementing healthcare processes that utilize these services can even reduce the rate of hospital readmissions and emergency department visits.

Telemedicine literature to date suggests that it holds benefits for patients and health care providers, may result in outcomes not inferior to in-person care, and has cost-saving implications.

Teladoc is included with all fully insured plans. If you're a self-funded customer, you must opt in.

Moreover, 57.6% thought that telemedicine could save physicians' time in traveling to deliver care to patients; 27.8% reported that they were satisfied with telemedicine services, 28.5% were not satisfied, and 43.7% had a neutral position [Figure 2].

Disadvantages include a lack of access to technology, a lack of technical literacy, the cost of telehealth for low-income people, and privacy concerns. There are also limitations to the types of conditions that telehealth can and cannot treat.

It also saves sick people from having to come in to the office. Less exposure to other people's germs helps everyone, especially those who are chronically ill, pregnant, elderly or immunocompromised.

There are several cases showing that telemedicine can be dehumanizing and dissocializing. For instance, Akir (2005) found that telemedicine is so dehumanizing that lives can even be endangered when remote medical diagnosis and surgery cannot be performed because of a shortage of satel- lite links.

While telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services, telehealth can refer to remote non-clinical services such as provider training, continuing medical education or public health education, administrative meetings, and electronic information sharing to facilitate and support assessment, diagnosis, ...

In-person treatments and specialized care

For obvious reasons, telemedicine cannot offer in-person interventions or drug injections.

Is telemedicine here to stay? ›

While the pandemic was the impetus for greater utilization of telehealth across the health care continuum, it's safe to say that due to the convenience and benefits it offers to patients and providers, telehealth is here to stay.

Results suggest telehealth as a viable care alternative with no significant differences between in-person and telehealth groups in depressive symptom reduction, and significant increases in self-reported quality of life across both groups.

Teladoc Health's top competitors include K Health, Foodsmart, and Eden Health. K Health provides virtual primary care, medical weight management, urgent care, and mental health services through a mobile app and partnerships with health systems and… View more in-depth data on: Competitors.

Teladoc Health providers do not issue prescriptions for substances controlled by the DEA, non-therapeutic and/or certain other drugs that may be harmful because of their potential for abuse. Also, non-therapeutic drugs such as Viagra and Cialis are not prescribed by Teladoc Health providers.

Teladoc doctors do not prescribe substances controlled by the DEA, non- therapeutic and/or certain other drugs which may be harmful because of their potential abuse.

Poor connections, multiple log-ins, and confusing downloads are some of the most common complaints from patients new to telemedicine. It is common to see telemedicine technology that promises to do it all, but proves to be overwhelming for patients who may be new to applications and video technology.

It keeps you and others from getting sick by being close to each other. You can see your health care provider anywhere: home, work, or even your car. It saves time because you don't need to travel, take time off, or find someone to watch your kids. You may get an appointment faster.

Telemedicine can increase staff efficiency and reduce costs while simultaneously improving quality of care, patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes. Improved access to care is the most obvious benefit of telemedicine.

A weak connection may cause problems with your video visit. Update your internet browser. If you are using a web browser, make sure it is up to date. Some telehealth platforms need the latest version to work best.