As lockdown goes on, interest in the telemedicine keyword is rising. According to data compiled by Atlas VPN shows that the interest rate in telemedicine has increased by 525% globally.
To understand how it works, we need to go back to the basics–its basically the use of technology that allows remote healthcare, also known as telehealth. With the help of telemedicine, physicians can treat patients whenever needed and wherever the patient is, by using a mobile or a desktop device.
Atlas VPN acquired the numbers of “telemedicine” searches worldwide over the last 15 years using the Google Trends system. The system provides numbers that show search interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term, while the value of 50 means it is half as popular.
The telemedicine numbers
In January of 2020, the “telemedicine” keyword reached an interest rate of around 15. In February, the interest increased slightly, reaching a rate of 17. As Corona pandemic and lockdowns began in March, the popularity score of the “telemedicine” keyword attained 97, showing a 546% growth rate.
In April, the interest peaked, reaching a score of 100 and representing a growth of 525% in comparison to January.
Results from the past 16 years show, the interest rate was fluctuating, almost always surpassing a score of 10. Interestingly, the popularity score of the “telemedicine” keyword was relatively high back in 2004, attaining 40. Since then, it started decreasing steadily: in 2005, the interest rate was 24, the next year it dropped to 22.
The lowest score of “telemedicine” queries searched on Google was in 2013. It reached an interest rate of 9, representing a 344% decrease compared to 2004. Since 2013, the interest rate was again fluctuating. It stabilized during the years of 2016 and 2017, attaining an interest rate of 13, then started growing steadily again.
The report indicates that during 2020, Ethiopia had the highest rate of telemedicine-related Google searches, reaching a popularity score of 100. With an interest rate of 59, the US was the second one in the world, followed by rate of 34 in the UAE. Meanwhile, the interest rate in telemedicine reached 13 in Australia, 11 in Switzerland and 10 in the UK.
Surprisingly, the popularity rate was relatively low in Spain: with a score of 5, it surpassed Italy, France, and China. All of the three countries had an interest rate of 4 during 2020.
