Telemedicine is transforming healthcare, providing discreet and accessible support for conditions often avoided in traditional clinics.
Telemedicine has, over the past five years, seen significant growth.
Health care access technology has moved from early adopters through to retailers now offering online consultations as part of its everyday product offering.
Whether it’s a cold and flu consult or guided weight loss, the impact and growth of the medium is undeniable.
Telehealth adoption in South Africa rises
Netnographer and online cultural specialist Carmen Murray said that the upward trajectory of telehealth and wellness is a sign of the time famine coupled with social pressure and online accessibility.
“The adoption rate is climbing at a steeper angle,” she said.
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“Health care entered the digital age with a measure of consumer reticence but since the pandemic, it has rapidly become a real-world option for people with busy lives or conditions that could make many people avoid the waiting room.”
Chief executive of telehealth business Zapmed, Alex Schmid, said there is a clear demand for confidential medical support online.
The company recently acquired another telemedicine practice, Contro, to widen its reach beyond its former core business of weight loss.
Business expands across stigmatised conditions
He said the business wanted to expand across all stigmatised conditions.
“People deal with weight issues, hormone changes, sexual health and hair loss or skin problems every day, but accessing help is still inconvenient or embarrassing.
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“These are the conditions people hide and we want them brought into proper medical care,” he said.
Murray said the application of telehealth beyond colds and flu is where the real social and cultural impact lies.
“People previously hesitant to seek treatment would likely opt for the privacy of their own devices, in their own spaces.”
Value outside major cities
Schmid said that long waits, short consults and then getting to a pharmacy leave many without support, even though effective treatments already exist. Telehealth, he said, has particular value outside major cities.
“As long as the patient has a stable connection, they can use the service from anywhere in South Africa. Medication is delivered nationally,” he said.
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Patients pay an upfront consult fee that can be claimed back from medical aid and a low monthly subscription offers ongoing doctor access and free delivery of medicine.
Telehealth or telemedicine was first mooted as a health care solution for developing countries in particular.
In a 2021 interview, Henley Business Schools’ Jon Foster Pedley said that “telemedicine is really a combination of technologies and processes that allow you to have more efficient and more frequent conversations with your doctor for less time and gets, in most cases, very similar results.”
South Africa’s telehealth use is rising, but lags the US and UK by a few years. Schmid said trust remains the biggest hurdle.
“People must see telehealth as legitimate, regulated medical care. Once they do, adoption climbs very quickly,” he said.
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He does not view the platform as a replacement for in-person doctors, but rather as an alternative for issues that traditionally fall through the cracks.
“Clinics play a crucial role,” he said.
