ZHL Rajasthan - Telehealth Addressing patients complaints in real-time
                      ZHL Rajasthan - Telehealth: Addressing patients 
complaints in real-time?
Telehealth is a recent development in the medical eco system, 
it was just some fifty years back that few hospitals around the 
world started practising or experimenting with telehealth with 
the aim to reach patients in remote locations. 
Ziqitza Healthcare, explains that telehealth in recent years has 
witnessed increased adoption due to rapid development and 
growth, and witnessed exponential growth during the COVID-
19 pandemic outbreak.
As per the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 
telemedicine can be described as ‘a service that aims to 
improve a patient’s health by permitting a two-way, real-time 
interactive communication between the patient and the 
physician from two different sites’.
Ziqitza, elaborates that although similar in connotations, 
telehealth and telemedicine must not be used interchangeably. 
Telehealth technically means usage of telecommunications and 
information technology for diagnosis, consultation etc from a 
distance. Ziqitza Healthcare ltd, further explains that 
improvements in technology have dramatically increased the 
accessibility and quality of care that is available digitally, which 
in turn has increased opportunities for the medical 
practitioners to connect with patients in remote areas. 
Ziqitza Healthcare further expands on the distinction between 
telehealth and telemedicine and states that Telehealth involves 
general health services which includes public health services, 
whereas telemedicine refers to specific kind of telehealth 
wherein a clinician provides some kind of medical services.
Ziqitza Rajasthan, states that in the face of the current 
COVID-`9 pandemic outbreak, medical practitioners 
and healthcare service providers were forced to adopt 
and utilise various telehealth tools at their disposal. 
During the current pandemic, telehealth services 
played an intrinsic and major role in ensuring that 
quality healthcare was accessible for everyone, 
especially the remote areas of the nation. 
Ziqitza Limited applauds the telehealth service 
providers for their efforts for ensuring that affordable 
care was available for patients while maintaining 
physical distance for the safety of both patients and 
providers. 

ZHL Rajasthan lists down few advantages of telehealth for easy 
reference -
Decreases strain on healthcare system: Telehealth can 
considerably reduce the time that gets generally wasted in 
travelling to the clinic and waiting there for the appointment. 
With the increase in population, these issues can get 
magnified and this is where telehealth has an advantage.
Reduces the rural barriers: The healthcare distribution in 
our country faces a huge challenge. Around 75% of India’s 
population resides in rural areas with limited access to 
primary healthcare services. Around 620 million rural Indians 
are devoid of primary healthcare services and require care 
from doctors based in metropolitan cities. Therefore, 
telehealth could be the solution here. Telehealth offers fast 
exchange of information, remedial measures, consultations 
etc among healthcare providers, patients, and the doctors. 
Assists patients with limited mobility: Ziqitza Limited 
Rajasthan believes that Telehealth is most beneficial to 
people who experience limited mobility such as patients with 
disability, or senior citizens, or patients with limited access to 
transportation. Remote access to healthcare services acts as 
a tool that improves the quality of life. 
Expedite Timely Care: Telehealth consultation can cut down 
on unnecessary trips to emergency rooms. A quick telehealth 
consultation can expedite timely care in case the diagnosis 
requires urgent hospitalisation or visit to the emergency 
room. It can save time in terms of visits to a physician, the 
online consult can quickly judge and the patient can be 
referred to the emergency room immediately.
Ziqitza Health care limited, explains that with the onset and 
advancement of mobile and electronic technologies, telehealth 
has become accessible and this increase has played a critical role 
in increased adoption of telehealth services across the country. 
The usage of the internet is now mainstream in healthcare. The 
online availability of medical records allows for easy storage and 
easy access to medical information for both the medical care 
providers and the patients. By leveraging internet services 
patients can view their test results from the convenience of their 
homes, order medications refill and even consult with the 
physicians directly. People can now interact with medical 
practitioners face-to-face in real time via live video services, this 
is also known as synchronous telemedicine. Telehealth services 
also give the freedom and ability to share imaging, labs or 
examination results. These can be stored and examined on a later 
date, also known as asynchronous telemedicine.
India is not new to telemedicine, it has always been 
there, however, the COVID-19 pandemic forced 
everyone's hands and spurred people towards 
acceptance of it and adoption of video-
consultations and other new-age platforms for 
medicines, care and consultations. While COVID-19 
exposed gaps in healthcare, it also offered 
opportunities and telehealth is one such 
opportunity. The nation must look at increased 
adoption of it and the policymakers must enable an 
environment for its advancement.