As the world embraces more digitally remote work and services, the medical field isn’t left behind as more and more people welcome the ease and comfort that comes with remote healthcare.

After years of uncomfortable clinic visits and precious time spent in long queues or waiting rooms, it isn’t surprising that more people are choosing to receive healthcare services within the comfort of their homes. Virtual clinics are establishing their position amongst Canadians by allowing patients to skip the waiting rooms and providing easy access to online doctors and online specialists.

The impact of the Covid-19 on telemedicine

While it may look like telemedicine recently sprung up due to COVID-19, in actual fact, telemedicine has been around for much longer. According to a publication by the World Health Organization (WHO), telemedicine has been around since the 1960s, although used mostly by the military and space technology sectors. It can be said that the coronavirus accelerated the development of online medical center services. Due to COVID-19, more people have become acquainted with the services of online walk-in clinics and prefer to take an online appointment as opposed to an in-clinic appointment for concerns over safety and social distancing protocols. In more recent times, telemedicine has helped bridge the gap of access between patients and physicians by removing the undue stress and heavy transport costs of traditional hospital visits. The goal of universal healthcare is for everyone in need of urgent care to gain access wherever and whenever they need it – whether virtual or in-person.

Telemedicine clinic

MD Connected is a leading healthcare company dedicated to doing just that. By running a hybrid model between physical clinics and virtual care, MD Connected makes it easy for everyone from different spheres of life to access quality healthcare whenever they need it.In the past four years, MD Connected has recorded tremendous success, especially in its rapidly growing virtual healthcare services. More people have enjoyed expert virtual care with a high record of patient satisfaction through their platform. At MD Connected, you can connect with an online doctor within minutes and skip the waiting room. The recent popularity of telehealth can be primarily attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic that forced movement restriction on everyone in a bid to curb its spread. People were forced to stay at home more, leading to increased demand for virtual care. During the summer of the COVID-19 crisis, a survey released by the Canadian Medical Association showed that 47% of Canadians accessed virtual healthcare through phone calls, texts, emails, and video calls. This is a 43% jump from the previous 4% recorded in the country just months earlier. It is also interesting to note that of the 47% of Canadians who accessed virtual care, 91% said they were “very satisfied” with the experience. With such a high percentage of satisfaction, it is safe to say that telemedicine is here to stay. This fact isn’t surprising as telemedicine has proven to have quite some advantages over traditional in-person visits. To start with, telemedicine offers comfortable healthcare. Patients no longer have to worry about the long journey to the walk-in clinics as they can set up a meeting right from their couch.

How does telemedicine work?

Telemedicine has proven to be a more cost-effective option for a wider range of services, with the patient not having to worry about the financial cost of transport and hospital care. In many cases, telemedicine can be free! Most telemedicine and virtual care services provided by MD Connected are covered by provincial health plans and are free. It is their model to make access to urgent healthcare as easy as possible and they understand that cost is a factor in doing so. Contrary to myths, patients can access specialists in a wide range of fields with telemedicine. Patients don’t have to travel hundreds of miles away to see their cardiologist or pediatrician in order to get a consultation. There is an ever-growing list of specialists in fields such as Dermatology, Pediatrics, Urology, Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Medical Cannabis, and Sexual Health on the MD Connected platform. MD Connected is striving to cut specialist wait times from months to days and create greater access to excellent healthcare across the country. Whether you need primary care or specialty services and you prefer an in-clinic visit or a virtual visit, MD Connected has you covered.

If a patient requires in-person care, they can visit one of the over 30 highly rated MD Connected medical clinics nearest to them. Otherwise, prescriptions by licensed doctors can be delivered directly to the patient’s door for free from known and trusted pharmacy partners. Telemedicine may just be the miracle we’ve all been waiting for.