When you’re in a foreign country, abroad, or frequently travel for business or vacations, it’s not always easy to get the quality medical care you need—or pay for it. Luckily, various innovative HelpCare medical services and hospitals offer an online review process where you can see what problems your doctor is treating so far and reschedule appointments when necessary. This means no more paying exorbitant bills at your local hospital. You can schedule appointments in advance and have them delivered directly to your inbox! And with new technology becoming increasingly popular in the healthcare industry, these innovative offerings make staying healthy more accessible than ever before.
These innovative companies are part of a new medical trend known as telehealth. Simply put, telehealth is the practice of using technology to provide medical care remotely—or at a distance rather than in person. As the word suggests, it’s healthcare administered through Internet-connected computers and other devices that allow patients to obtain medical services from a remote location.
While some government-run healthcare services like Medicare and Medicaid have recently been working towards offering more remote medical services for seniors, few private sector companies have made similar efforts until now.
Australia is one of the countries leading the way in developing and implementing healthcare technologies. The country’s National Health and Medical Research Council have been working on telehealth since 2008, when it committed to putting “everyone who can be reached in Australia into linked health information systems that use real-time communication.”
Even though Australia is a Western country with a strong focus on medical innovation, many other countries have had trouble offering vital healthcare services remotely before now. In particular, some remote regions of India—some of which are home to billion-dollar industries such as call centers—have been unable to receive any form of decent medical care at all until relatively recently.