Opioid disorders are a major cause of concern in the United States, opioid-related overdose death toll was skyrocketing in the year 2016 which pushed Trump to declare an opioid health emergency in 2017. The overdose from opioids results in early age deaths. The good news is that America’s telemedicine EMR software boom has enhanced access to treatment for opioid use disorder. As an increased number of patients deal with the issue of addiction recovery and pain management many healthcare organizations have deployed a telemedicine platform to address the opioid crisis by offering remote treatment options to patients all over the United States.

The role of telemedicine to combat the opioid crisis

  1. On-demand access to therapists, recovery tools, and addiction support – The robust telehealth facility helps patients to connect with healthcare providers and support groups easily and promptly through virtual video sessions. The patients can conveniently access their therapists in times of crisis to help them through the recovery process. Addiction- related conditions need to be treated on time to prevent adverse effects in the future, hence prompt and on-demand treatment can help reduce wait times for such services. The opioid crisis is quite big in the suburbs of America, through telehealth platform patients in rural areas can easily contact their therapists for timely counseling without having to travel to the clinic.
  2. Providers can easily connect and collaborate with substance abuse experts – When a patient suffering from substance abuse conditions reaches out to a primary care provider than through live video and audio options offered by the telemedicine module they can seamlessly collaborate with substance abuse experts for improved addiction treatment and recovery. This way providers can better serve patients and reduce the risk of relapse and also improve patient outcome levels.
  3. Map out the entire recovery process – Through remote patient monitoring and virtual sessions and consultations healthcare providers and substance abuse experts can map out the recovery process by the data and information provided by the patient. Treatment methods can improve by giving providers a better chance to learn more about the daily struggles of these patients. By understanding situations, the addiction recovery process can also improve.

Moving ahead –

Telemedicine EMR software system plays an important role in facilitating the American healthcare system to combat and overcome the opioid addiction crisis. The wide-scale adaption of telemedicine solutions by hospitals, clinics, and healthcare organizations can improve the provider’s outreach to treat more patients in a day. Telehealth also improves the patient’s access to receive guidance and consultations from substance abuse specialists from the comfort of their homes. Here are some good options of telemedicine EMR software vendors for your practice that offers the right functionality, tools, and ease of use to diagnose and treat patients with maximum efficiency and precision for a healthier population.

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Marissa Phillips
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