Telehealth vs. Telemedicine
Telehealth and telemedicine – these terms get thrown around a lot in modern healthcare. They sound very similar and often used interchangeably to refer to digital healthcare. But is there a difference, and more importantly, does it matter when discussing virtual care services with your team and patients?
Telehealth
The biggest difference between telehealth and telemedicine is the scope of services they cover. Telehealth is a broad term used to refer to a variety of telecommunication technologies, as well as the use of electronic information to improve care. This includes:
Remote clinical services
Non-remote clinical services
Surveillance
Public health functions
Professional health education
Healthcare administration
Telemedicine
On the other hand, telemedicine offers greater specificity in its coverage. As a subset of telehealth, telemedicine refers to health care services and education provided over a distance using electronic communication technology and software. It is commonly used for follow-up visits, consultations, and managing medication. However, there is an abundance of clinical services telemedicine can supplement.
So, in essence, telemedicine is telehealth, but telehealth may not necessarily be telemedicine.
What’s the Bottom Line?
Even with the rise in telehealth’s popularity since 2020, it’s still a relatively new concept for patients. Most individuals outside of the healthcare industry will view telehealth and telemedicine as synonymous. And, given the overlap of the two, it’s not an entirely inaccurate assumption.
Regardless of the terminology, digital healthcare significantly increases access to care, reduces costs, and improves overall patient outcomes. Defining the industry allows for a smoother transition into a modern, digitized healthcare landscape and gives the patient population a greater understanding of their care. And, as it’s adopted by more hospitals, the terms telehealth and telemedicine will become part of common healthcare knowledge.
