This Telehealth App is Replacing In-Person Doctor’s Visits
In a world that’s increasingly moving online, it’s no surprise that healthcare should get the digital treatment, too.
Telehealth, or healthcare that’s conducted from a distance, through the use of electronics like your phone or computer, has been booming in popularity the last few years. And the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic only made this type of healthcare even more widespread, with doctors and patients both finding reasons to embrace this distanced type of treatment.
A result of the trend — or perhaps something helping drive it — is the development of a number of telehealth apps, which allow people to address all sorts of health conditions from home. And some of them have proven to be so helpful that they have people thinking twice about seeing their doctor in-person.
What is a Telehealth App?
A telehealth app isn’t so different from most other apps on your phone, tablet or other devices. They can be found in the app store, downloaded, and used through your device’s interface. The thing that makes them stand out from other apps is their purpose: To help users access healthcare and other health advice.
There are a number of different telehealth apps which are designed to help with different types of health conditions. Many offer access to online doctors, to help answer questions or make initial assessments on a problem.
Telehealth has also become widely popular in the mental health field, with a number of telehealth apps connecting people in need with mental health professionals. The app allows these two parties to talk, on an ongoing basis, in a safe and managed online space, through various features including video messaging, chatrooms, texting, or even regular phone calls.
And some telehealth apps also focus on the more pragmatic side of health, allowing users to book appointments, refill prescriptions, search for specialists in their area or more.
The best telehealth apps incorporate a little bit of all of these features. And the telehealth apps For Hims and For Hers focus on doing just that — helping users with everything from prescriptions to prognoses.
For Hims
As the name may imply, For Hims is a telehealth app focused on the mental and physical health issues predominantly affecting biological men. The app’s mission is to fight back the outdated notion that men “aren’t supposed to care for themselves.” Self-care, the company points out, is for everyone.
And For Hims follows up on that promise with a full suite of healthcare tools to help keep men as healthy as possible.
Main Features
For Hims is essentially a one-stop shop for online healthcare, offering users a number of ways to get what they need to feel good.
One of the telehealth app’s most popular features is an online consultation, which works to put users in touch with an online doctor best matched to help with their needs. This can include primary care doctors, specialists, or mental health professionals.
For Hims is also a literal one-stop shop, working with a licensed pharmacy to help users access any prescriptions they may need, and offering a number of other helpful over-the-counter healthcare products.
Plus, the app — and the online doctors it works with — can help subscribers put together a personal healthcare plan, with recommended treatments that take so much of the painful guess work out of self-guided self-care.
Conditions it helps with
While For Hims can help users address all kinds of conditions, the telehealth app focuses specifically on problems that may impact biological men, including:
- Hair Loss
- Erectile Dysfunction
- Premature Ejaculation
- Certain STIs
But the app still attends to all areas of help, offering avenues to mental health professionals and other online doctors and products that can help with:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Skin care (acne, anti-aging, etc.)
For those particularly interested in addressing their mental health, the app even offers a way to get in touch with support groups.
Pros & Cons
Telehealth apps can offer a number of benefits to users, including:
- Dealing with sensitive issues from the comfort of your own home
- Working with board certified doctors, medical specialists and mental health professionals
- A one-stop app that safely and securely holds all your medical information
- Confidential and secure messaging
- Safe and secure payments for medications and other products
Still, even the best telehealth apps aren’t a cure-all. It should be noted that these apps are not meant to replace your regular doctor. At their best, they should be used to supplement your in-person healthcare treatment.
Check out For Hims today
For Hers
The equal and opposite counterpart to For Hims is For Hers, the telehealth app focused on issues primarily affecting biological women.
While the self-care movement has been primarily targeted toward women in modern society, For Hers doesn’t stop at the type of aesthetic advice typically doled out in these largely commercial ventures. The telehealth app gets at the roots of many issues that present real problems for women in the real world.
Main Features
For Hers allows women to better address their healthcare needs through a number of useful tools and features.
Members are first asked to fill out a consultation form, answering a few questions about lifestyle, medical history, and any current concerns. The telehealth app then works its magic, putting users in touch with an online doctor to help them get the treatment they need.
This includes the free shipment of any prescriptions written through For Hers, sent straight to a user’s door. But For Hers also offers a broader marketplace, allowing women to access over-the-counter products that can help with a number of health conditions.
Conditions it helps with
For Hers takes pride in helping biological women address the specific types of issues that they often face, including:
- Birth control methods
- Yeast infections
- Urinary tract infections
- Certain STIs
But a number of more general health concerns are also addressed through services, prescriptions, and products offered through the app, including:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Psychiatry services
- Sexual dissatisfaction
- Skin care
- Hair care
- Allergies
- Minor infections, such as sinus infections
Online doctors will help users assess the types of prescriptions and products they may need through the consultation form and subsequent online evaluations.
Pros & Cons
Telehealth apps have found widespread popularity for a reason. Well, many reasons. The method of accessing healthcare offers a number of benefits, including:
- Addressing sensitive or potentially embarrassing at home
- Private, confidential consultations with board certified doctors
- Built-in prescription service
- Help in creating an overall wellness and treatment plan
- Easy access to over-the-counter skin care, hair care, and other products
- One place to access all your healthcare information
But the method’s biggest con is also its most obvious: Telehealth apps aren’t actually a doctor. Though they may put you in contact with trained healthcare professionals, these tools are not meant to entirely replace your relationship with your primary care doctor. Rather, For Hers is envisioned as a way to supplement and streamline your regular healthcare routine.
Check out For Hers today
Benefits of Using a Telehealth App
No matter what your biology, there are many benefits to using the online medical portal like telemedicine platforms.
Keeping things to virtual visits is a total game changer. It means less time spent in cars or on waiting room couches — that means more time in your schedule to do what you want, and need, in a day.
This type of distanced care can also help keep infectious diseases at bay, including the coronavirus and other potentially deadly germs.
Some doctors even say video chatting during telehealth appointments can offer the advantage of seeing users in their home environment, giving the medical experts clues to what might be driving illnesses, whether that’s a general care physician looking for potential allergy triggers or a mental health professional spotting lifestyle patterns that could be important in diagnosing or treating a patient.
And ultimately, the method offers a discrete yet entirely secure way to keep all of your healthcare information in one easy-to-reach place, taking all the logistical complications of coordinating doctors and pharmacies off your plate.
Is Telehealth Right for Me?
Telehealth has a great deal of advantages, but it may not be for everyone.
If you’re struggling with a condition that requires hands-on care—issues with mobility, for example, which can be helped through physical realignments—a virtual appointment won’t do you much good.
Telemedicine apps are also the wrong choice for emergency situations such as heart attacks, broken bones, or anything that may require immediate assistance.
The best telehealth apps work to help people who need or want an easy forum for continuing care, such as mental health programs, or new patients looking for an initial assessment or help creating a wellness plan. But the method can be an overall effective one for most types of patients dealing with most types of health concerns.
FAQs
Telehealth apps are wonderful resources for all manner of healthcare concerns, but they’re still a relatively new development, which many people may have many questions about.
How do telehealth apps work?
Telehealth apps are easy to use.
First, you download them from the app store, just like any other app.
Typically after downloading the programs, you’ll be asked to create a login. This may require you to create an account with the company, which could mean entering some personal information. (For His and For Hers require a credit card and photo ID, though this information is kept completely secure and confidential.)
Once you’re set up, you’ll most likely be asked to fill out an online consultation form. This helps the algorithm fix you up with the right online doctors for the appropriate type of subsequent evaluation.
Once you speak with the doctor, you’ll be given some next steps, whether that’s ordering your prescription or scheduling another appointment—which you can do directly through the app—or some other action. And once you’re up and running, the app will help you keep track of your medical information, any appointments, and any prescriptions or product orders that may be coming your way.
Are telehealth apps legit?
As with all things, but especially all things Internet-adjacent, it’s difficult to make a broad statement about legitimacy. There will be, unfortunately, some scams out there disguised as telemedicine apps, as there will always be scammers hoping to cash in on new schemes.
But, by and large, telehealth visits via the app are a helpful and legitimate tool for people looking to more quickly and easily access healthcare professionals and the types of prescriptions and products that help them live a healthier and happier life.
Are telehealth apps free?
Some telehealth apps are free. Some telemedicine apps aren’t free. Sometimes, it depends on the type of service or level of service you use.
For Hers and For His require payment for certain services. And, naturally, prescriptions and products are things you’ll need to pay for, though insurance may help offset all of these costs, or cover them completely, depending on your plan.
What can’t telehealth apps treat?
Like all else in healthcare, a telehealth appointment is not a solution to every single health condition. They are not suitable for any type of emergency situation, including mental health emergencies, heart attack, stroke, broken bones, concussions, or any other condition that requires immediate care.
Telehealth is also not appropriate for some types of treatment, including prescribing any type of medication that may vary in strength depending on a patient’s weight. Patients who would require other types of in-person evaluations or help, including those dealing with heart issues or recovery from a physical injury that may require a cast or other in-person adjustments, should also not use telehealth apps.
Sadly, not even the best telehealth app in the world can conjure a cast for someone across the Internet.
Thanks to their quick, easy, convenient, and confidential format, telehealth apps are likely here to stay. And the best telehealth apps can truly make a positive difference, offering a person a portal to all their medical information, prescriptions, and other types of help.
If you’re seeking help with a new condition, looking for a medical consultation, or interested in finding a program to help you with ongoing care, a telehealth app is likely going to help you get just the kind of care you want, need, and deserve.
