What is telemedicine?
Telemedizin - Fernbehandlung von Bluthochdruck?
This includes, among other things:
- The transmission of medical images between centers to support medical care;
- Teleconsultation with specialists
- A remote diagnosis by a doctor who is not near the patient, such as the aforementioned specialist consulted remotely, based on remote monitoring;
- Telemonitoring of a patient who is not in the hospital;
- Home monitoring through remote care, which also allows the use of remote monitoring data; and
- Remote training for patients or healthcare professionals.
For patients' everyday lives, the options that can be used from home are certainly the most important.
It is now possible, after a heart attack or stroke, to transmit data from an implanted device or from a continuously worn vest directly from home to the doctor or service provider. The patient's data can thus be monitored at home over the long term without the patient having to be in hospital. This can reduce the risk of a repeat event, such as another stroke, heart attack, or similar.
Telemedical follow-up is more accessible, for example, for patients with high blood pressure or diabetes: the measurements patients take at home using the appropriate devices are sent to their treating doctor and can be used by the doctor to treat the patient.
Even easier is the option to consult your own GP online. Here, medical care takes place without physical contact. The doctor is contacted via the internet; care is provided through a video consultation, by phone, or in writing via chat.
Online or video consultations proved to be an extremely useful and viable form of patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The main goal was to avoid infections.
However, it turned out that video consultations can also ease the workflow in the practice and relieve patients. The ill patient doesn't have to travel to the doctor's office or wait there. This also helps avoid unnecessary visits to the practice. Issues such as extending a sick note, requesting repeat prescriptions, or questions about ongoing complaints can be handled more quickly this way.
The ability to interact with doctors online also makes it possible to get the opinion of distant specialists without having to travel there.
For a while, a new option allowed treating simple illnesses through tele-doctors and getting follow-up prescriptions or sick notes issued. This has since been heavily restricted in Germany, which is why well-known providers have withdrawn from the German market.
Sources:
This article is from Tensana – the leading app since 2011, helping hundreds of thousands of people monitor their blood pressure every day.
Our content is based on carefully researched, evidence-based data and is continuously updated (as of 02/2026).
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as outpatient care, and has headed the specialist editorial team at Tensana since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as an emergency medical technician, first responder, and in various areas of therapy and emergency care, she provides well-founded, practical, and reliably verified information.
Author Sabine Croci is a qualified medical assistant with many years of experience in internal medicine and cardiology practices as well as outpatient care, and has headed the specialist editorial team at Tensana since 2015. Thanks to her extensive additional qualifications as an emergency medical technician, first responder, and in various areas of therapy and emergency care, she provides well-founded, practical, and reliably verified information.
