Moving Forward Health Centers To Provide Online Consultation

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : February 16, 2022

In recent times, various nations have taken to providing tele-counseling or online counseling over video calls. The last 25 months have brought changes in various industries. The education sector, shopping and retail, services, and healthcare are also affected in a huge manner.

Moving Forward Health Centers To Provide Online Consultation

Thus, it is not surprising that most doctors had already switched to tele-counseling and video counseling during the recent waves. Most OPDs were empty, as healthy people avoided the crowds at such places. In the past, no doctor or health counselor would even think of consultations online. However, the ‘new normal’ has set in.

Moving Forward Health Centers To Provide Online Consultation

So, everybody is comfortable with these online or virtual meets with doctors. Many people are also avoiding taking unvaccinated children to healthcare centers, for fear of contracting the infection. Today one can share prescriptions and health records over virtual means. Visiting the doctor or OPDs is not a necessity any longer.

However, one has to visit the diagnostic centers or pathology labs to get tests done. This is a new sphere where the government plans to initiate more systematic action. The Biden government has started initiating the procedures in this direction. The administration is pushing means to develop home-diagnostic tools as well, apart from tele-counseling and video counseling.

The US Health and Human Services are releasing a huge amount towards the betterment of facilities for community healthcare centers. These centers have played a vital role in patient healthcare as the country faced the onslaught of Covid-19. So, moving forward, the country administration wants the centers to provide primary healthcare services online. It will also reduce the burden on the hospitals.

There is a lot of development on the cards, which aims to make healthcare accessible for all. Apart from digital means to monitor diseases and telehealth facilities, the administration plans to give a rejig to the healthcare facilities.

In the recent spate of events, the government has noted that the hospital network may not be adequate for the overwhelming situations that have arisen due to the pandemic. No one can say for sure, if the pandemic is over, or there could be another wave ahead. So, the government is initiating mitigation measures so that surges can be handled more tactfully.

In recent times, many patients who were supposed to undergo routine surgeries were turned off. It was due to the simple fact that there was a lack of space in the hospitals. Thus, Biden is relying on the healthcare centers to provide support to the hospital structure in the US.

The administration is trying to make tele-counseling and video counseling a norm, moving forward. So, patients can consult with doctors and healthcare practitioners online, without having to visit the facilities. It will also mean that there will be proper maintenance of social distancing. Additionally, doctors and nurses will also get a breather.

Many health sciences professionals have already succumbed to the virus in the last two years. There is an acute shortage of practitioners in the US at present. The situation is worse than what the government is reporting. It has led to an increasing number of nurses, who mainly take care of patients in hospital settings, getting visas. The quota has also been increased to a huge extent.

There are several bills that need to be amended if tele-counseling and video-counseling are to be made a practice. Many bills at the Federal level do not allow such consultation modalities in normal situations. As many as 40 states have already made such efforts so that the patients who have minor issues can avail themselves of the treatments.

If everything goes as planned, virtual healthcare may be a new development in US healthcare.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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