As remote healthcare gathers traction, patients with chronic diseases could get easier access to diagnostic data than ever before, writes Abi Millar.
From GP appointments via telephone to remote patient monitoring technologies: it would be hard to miss the shift towards remote healthcare. Over the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has catalysed a trend that might otherwise have developed far more gradually.
According to McKinsey, telehealth utilisation spiked at the start of the pandemic, before stabilising. The ‘new normal’, however, was a significant departure from what came before. The consultancy reported that, by February 2021, the levels of office and outpatient visits conducted virtually were 38 times higher than prepandemic.
This shift is affecting diagnostics too, particularly when it comes to patients with chronic conditions who need frequent testing. For instance, cancer patients may need repeated complete blood count (CBC) tests to see how their condition has progressed and how their body is responding to treatment.
Read the rest of this article in the March 2022 edition of Medical Technology
Journalist portfolio 