Did you know that in an average doctor’s visit, the patient sees the doctor for about 7 minutes? When factoring in travel time and wait time, you aren’t really getting that much face time with your health care professional. Virtual doctor visits are most popular for their shorter overall time that is required from the patient. There are certain requirements that healthcare professionals are required to follow in order to do telemedicine, and sometimes it may seem like a lot of leg work at the beginning. But virtual visits are designed to be less time consuming and provide a more personalized care to help patients maintain their overall health and wellbeing in a more successful manner.

Convenience is the number one benefit of virtual medicine. There are many benefits associated to telemedicine. It connects people in more rural parts of the country. It is beneficial for new moms who could be being treated for postpartum depression. Before, patients would have to schedule time off for doctor’s visits. Maybe take a half day off from work even. But now days, patients can schedule their visit for a lunch time break or even just schedule time to leave work a little bit early. 

Waiting in a virtual waiting room is so much better than waiting in a physical waiting room. A doctor’s waiting room is not an ideal place to spend time. Not only is it bothersome to just sit and wait, it can be a germ infestation. It isn’t the greatest idea for sick people to congregate and sit with other sick people. Or for those who are feeling healthy to be required to wait with those who aren’t feeling well. Especially for elderly people or those people that have compromised immune systems. For a virtual visit, you can wait in the comfort of your own home until it is your turn. 

Virtual visits allow patients to be more engaged during their appointments. Video conferencing can allow doctors to bring up their patients charts and mark it accordingly while screen sharing with their patient.  By sharing screens it allows the patient to see the information the doctor is presenting and be able to absorb the information better.

Patients feel like their doctor is actually paying better attention to them during a virtual visit. At first it can seem that the camera may make things feel a little less personal, but it actually does quite the opposite. Chatting over a video conference has made patients feel that their doctors are actually paying better attention and are more focused on them. 

It might seem like a big change to start using telemedicine, but don’t be afraid of it. You will still be receiving excellent medical care. You can rest assured that the information passed between your virtual visit is private and secure. These visits are still HIPPA compliant. Medical offices are just trying to be more efficient for them and for you. They recognize that there are many instances where in person visits are not required, and to save you and them time and money, they are offering virtual visits that will benefit you and your family.