big data in pharmaIt is undeniably true that the health care costs have hardly been friendly to most patients. The customers of health services are aware of their chances so that they often look for alternatives or even stop seeing their doctor to save their money. Some rely on over-the-counter solutions because most of the generic drugs are much cheaper than the conventional ones.

Telehealth is also harnessing the power of big data to improve the existing healthcare facilities. Big data analytics is playing key role in analyzing the complex data to come up with relevant and applicable inferences.

ERBIS software engineering company has seen this polemic for years and offered the best solution for this problem. The solution is called “Telehealth”. It is not really a new thing but most recently the medical communities are striving for Telehealth because of the pandemic effects.

Government restricts the mobility of the health care service and the patients so that it is sensible that the patients can treat themselves at home. Telehealth harnesses the power of technologies which revolve around the medical and health services.

According to the ERBIS team, there has been exponential increases in the number of patients who are using their PC, laptop, and mobile devices to retrieve the diagnostic information from Telehealth apps. Ones can now check everything on the trustworthy app, and find the solutions for their health problems in no time, without drama.

As stated by many experts and concerned parties, Telehealth can bring more benefits than the downsides to folks in the world. However, not all health institutions and relevant parties are sold with the telehealth ideas. They prioritize some things over another. And it is hard to neglect the fact that this technology still has plenty of room for improvement. Here are some challenges of telehealth that you’d like to consider.

1. There is no guarantee of comparable payment

Telehealth services coverage should be compatible with in-person health service. But it won’t be as easy as comparing onee service to another. It is perhaps the biggest challenge in the telehealth that we’ve known so far there is no solid solution. Although the payment parity laws are already available in certain regions, there is no authorized party who has the responsibility to enforce it.

Many patients are having cold feet because they don’t know who can vouch for this system, and who are able to protect them when they are using the telehealth services, a thing that they haven’t known before.

With unclear guarantee of the comparable payment, it will be hard to see the selling points of telehealth or telemedicine especially in cost saving and the services accessibility. While it can make the patients withdraw from picking the options, it will also affect the providers decisions from offering the telehealth service.

2. Misdiagnosis risks and takeaways

ERBIS company also emphasized the problem in misdiagnosis.

You might have heard somewhere that there was misdiagnosis which led to a person’s death. And it happened when the patient was in in-person health care. Imagine how the risks can increase if it was telehealth. It is undeniably true that telehealth can increase the risks of misdiagnosis because of the distances and time differences barriers.

One can use telehealth services and be in contact with their doctor. Because of such barriers, the doctors could misdiagnose the conditions. There are still many slits to be found in telehealth in terms of doctor’s diagnosis.

In some countries which the health niche is still underdeveloped, telehealth seems to be a ticking bomb. There is no exact standard of the health care proposed by the authority. Left alone in one country, the challenges will be multiplied off the telehealth services used across the globe. For instance, the patient A from China, was diagnosed by Belgian doctor. The result could be different when patient A changed his doctor to France doctor. The quality of services might be different from one telehealth provider to another.

Misdiagnosis can also have a chain of reactions that drive the costs to the worse. Some sickness and health conditions require the physical diagnosis. There are still some aspects that cannot be solved through telehealth.

3. The challenges in implementing the telehealth in all countries

The international telehealth implementation will be a long and tedious process. Some countries’ governments have embraced the existence of the technology and enforced this system to the confirmed health institutions and businesses. Some big countries have expanded the availability of the telehealth services so that all of the patients from different regions can enjoy the services as well.

But if we are talking about the usage across the globe, ERBIS also stated that this could be the most challenging thing. Wide-spread implementation will take years to come. Telehealth is a broad topic. It can come from telephone consultations to the medication prescriptions online, as well as its shipment. There are tons of components that require more time for familiarity. The real challenge in the implementation lies within the resources as well as the strategy that works in each country. Keep in mind that each country might need a different approach in adopting telehealth.

4. Finding the responsible vendors

Again, vendors can come as the biggest challenge in the telehealth. While vendors are an important part of the telehealth process, not all of them are held responsible if there’s any case. When it comes to the telehealth vendors, the difference between the supplier and care site can be biased so that it is hard to determine which vendors can be reliable to handle such tasks. It is also hard to make the details on what should be valued through the telehealth system. There’s still an unanswered question: how to ensure the value and quality of the services of telehealth?

5. Lack of internet access

While some people are struggling with slow internet connection. Some people even don’t have the luxury to use wifi in their house. The fuel of Telehealth is broadband internet access  so that the patients can join with the video chats with the health care providers. The video chat is the medium where they will get their diagnosis. It is the meat of the system.

Did you know that there are around 40 million Americans who don’t have internet access at their home?