The benefits of telehealth are plentiful. It is convenient, cheaper than a hospital visit, and it is portable. A smart phone gives people access to their healthcare chart and records at the touch of their finger tips. The vast array of services that can be provided by telehealth are only continuing to grow, including dance/art therapy, videoconferencing therapy, heart rate monitors, and more. These services can be used to help people suffering from mental health issues. Commonly, lonliness is associated with mental health illnesses such as depression, and people living in rural areas are more likely to feel lonely. Therefore, it is even more critical that rural residents have access to telehealth. Therapy is a proven benefitial treatment for mental health illnesses, and thus increasing accessibility to various forms of therapies makes sense. These therapies do not have to come in the "talk therapy" we so easily imagine, but rather it could be a dance or art video tutorial, or an individualized playlist for calming music. Telehealth is a great platform for all of these therapies. Telehealth's convenient nature allows people to take care of themselves at home, which reduces shame and stigma that mental health patients may feel when walking in public. 

 

The implications of these wide services, mean that not only can more therapies be provided such as music therapy, but perhaps one day, going to the hospital will be in emergency cases only. Physicians can now check in on their patients for medication follow up and well-being over the phone. Similarly, physicians can take advantage of telehealth to communicate more efficiently and effectively with one another. This will streamline the healthcare process and help reduce chances for medical mistakes. Telehealth can also lower healthcare spending, because of saving on resources, such as nurses/doctors' time and unnecessary tests. Not only does telehealth benefit the user individually, but due to the decrease in resources as well as decreased wait-time due to fewer people in clinic, telehealth is a public good.