We live in an age of technology and convenience. If it isn’t instantaneous, innovative, and at our fingertips, we don’t want it. Same goes for our healthcare. Enter, telemedicine.

So What is Telemedicine?

Telemedicine utilizes various forms of technology (email, phone, etc.) to connect remote patients with healthcare providers in order to evaluate, diagnose, and treat their healthcare concerns.

At this point, it’s a lot more than a growing trend. Over half of all U.S. hospitals now use some form of telemedicine and there are about 200 telemedicine networks with more than 3,000 service sites around the country.

Our Telemedicine Offerings

Boon, as an industry innovator, is all about embracing the future. Which is why HealthiestYou is one of our favorite and most popular offerings. HealthiestYou offers 24/7/365 on-demand access to healthcare. Anytime. Anywhere.

HealthiestYou puts healthcare literally at your fingertips with phone, email, or video assistance that connects you with board certified doctors and other medical providers, ready to address your non-emergency medical concerns. Here are just a few of the top concerns that telemedicine addresses:

• sore throat
• pink eye
• earache
• allergies
• urinary tract infection

From where we stand, telemedicine is everyday care that adapts to the patient’s fast-paced life. You can learn more about that here.

The Future is Telemedicine

There’s a reason that telemedicine is often viewed as the future of healthcare, beyond simple convenience.

For patients that live in rural or remote areas, telemedicine offers access to specialists that simply doesn’t exist otherwise. For every 100,000 rural patients in the U.S., only 43 specialists are available. This isolation creates an issue for patients in accessing lifesaving consultations. Coming at it from the position of the healthcare provider, it allows doctors to practice on their own terms and prevents professional burnout. Which is quite a large problem among healthcare professionals in the U.S.

It should come as no surprise that telemedicine is a lot cheaper than the typical cost of most in-person visits. Studies found that it costs patients roughly $42 to wait for a doctor. Think about all the patients coming in from a greater distance, or those who are homebound or unable to take time off work.

Remote care and monitoring significantly reduces healthcare costs. That means savings for insurance companies. That means savings for employers seeking coverage.

It’s a brave new world, and we’ve got that world in the palm of our hand (quite literally). For the patient on the go and the discerning healthcare provider/employer, telemedicine provides meaningful care, when and where you need it.