In a time when medical care is dominated by 24 hour urgent care and clinics offering convenient medical care, telemedicine is a field of health care that has been on the rise in recent years. Telemedicine and virtual health providers rely on three methods of approach: the first provides patients with virtual care by their primary care provider; the second relies on the patient seeing a different care provider, but the provider is still in the same organization as the patient’s primary care doctor; the third approach offers a different care provider from a different organization. Telemedicine works differently from 24 hour urgent care clinics in that it doesn’t require patients to leave the home to be seen by a doctor. Instead, telemedicine employs medical professionals to work as online doctors or virtual doctors who assist patients seeking help online. There are several reasons you should choose to see a virtual doctor instead of visiting a 24 hour urgent care clinic and this article will take a look at a few of those reasons.

• Virtual Doctors Provide Literal On-Demand Care: One reason to see a virtual doctor is because they provide literal on-demand care for their patients. Anyone who needs to speak with a virtual doctor only needs to log in to the appropriate system and they’ll be speaking with a doctor within minutes. This is far more efficient than going to a clinic where you might have to wait 15 to 20 minutes or longer to see the doctor.
• Virtual Doctors Make it Easy for Housebound Patients to Connect With a Specialist: Another reason to see a virtual doctor is because they make it easier for patients who cannot leave the house to connect with a medical specialist. Patients who might not otherwise be able to connect with a medical specialist, can speak to one using telemedicine, all without ever leaving their home.
• Speaking With Virtual Doctors Can Save a Trip to the Clinic: And finally, a third reason to see a virtual doctor is because doing so can save patients a trip to the medical clinic. For example, instead of driving all the way to an urgent care clinic only to find out you have a cold, you can instead log in and speak with a virtual doctor, who can diagnose your symptoms and let you know what treatment you need. In this way, you can save a trip and get diagnosed from the comfort of your home. Granted, this usually works best for minor illnesses, but it is a help nonetheless.

In conclusion, there are several reasons to see a virtual doctor instead of going to an urgent care center. These reasons include: virtual doctors provide on-demand care, they make it easy for housebound patients to connect with a specialist, and they can save a trip to the clinic by diagnosing minor illnesses over the Internet. These are just a few of the reasons to see a virtual doctor.