Telehealth allows people all over the world to have medical appointments without leaving their home. They can do it through phone or video calls, which are handy and have great health benefits for the patient as well as their doctors. Here are some of its perks:
1. **It’s super simple and convenient.** You don’t need to travel to the doctor’s office anymore. Instead, you can chat with your doctor from your home or even workplace. It saves you time and fits nicely into your hectic schedule.
2. **It helps stop the spread of nasty bugs.** Telehealth helps to stop diseases, especially ones that spread through the air, from spreading further. Doctors can use online appointments to check if a patient might have an infectious disease, which reduces the chance of others getting sick from it.
3. **It’s good for understanding your problem.** Because doctors see you in your regular surroundings, they can understand your health issues better. It’s like someone with allergies video calling their doctor who can help figure out the cause based on what they’re seeing in the patient’s environment.
But telehealth isn’t without its problems. For instance, a whole lot of data gets shared between you and your doctor during a telehealth appointment. This could lead to issues with protecting your personal information. Here are some possible risks:
1. **Your computer might not be safe enough.** If your computer system isn’t secure, it could lead to loss of data. This risk comes in when data gets sent from your doctor to you since a lot of us use at-home software that might not have strong enough security against cyberattacks.
2. **Medical devices may not be secure.** Some devices like heart monitors or insulin pumps don’t have strong enough security for sending data over the internet. This can lead to theft of patient data.
3. **Your personal health data might be at risk.** Even though healthcare providers have to protect your data according to certain rules, there is still a risk, especially on your end.
Here are a few ways you can stay protected while using telehealth:
1. **Use secure options and get expert advice.** Telehealth service providers need to use the newest and best cybersecurity solutions. They should also make sure that the IT platform used by a patient has the necessary security features.
2. **Use a Virtual Private Network (VPN).** One of the best ways to keep data safe during transmission is by using a VPN. It creates a secure “tunnel” for data to pass through, keeping it hidden from cyber threats.
3. **Use strong passwords and antivirus software.** You should protect all devices used during a telehealth appointment with passwords and antivirus software.
While providing security for your data might be costly, it’s definitely worth it to prevent data breaches!
