Physically Unable To Get to A Doctor’s Office? A Handicap Parking Permit Could Be the Answer

Dr Handicap - disabled parking sign

For many people, going to doctor’s office is a simple task, if a little bothersome. You drive or hop on a bus to the clinic, have your consultation, pay the fee, and follow up with whatever medication the doctor may have prescribed. It’s an hour or so out of their day for most people, and while no one particularly likes going to see the doctor (bar the odd hypochondriac), it’s certainly not the biggest pain in the world to tick a trip to the clinic off our to-do lists. Yet for some disabled individuals, the prospect of visiting a doctor looms large over them like a Herculean task, which takes massive amounts of planning and time; for others still, it is simply an impossibility.

If a disabled person lives in a remote area and doesn’t own a car, they rely solely on public transport to get them where they want to be. Unfortunately, for some people, public transport simply isn’t an option. Whether it’s buses or trains, many of them aren’t ideally kitted out for handicapped people to take full advantage of, and even when they are, the whole process can be a tiresome operation – especially when there’s no one accompanying the disabled person (the recruitment of whom adds another layer of difficulty to an already complicated process). Specialized taxis are a somewhat viable option, but can run extremely expensive tabs, and rely on the disabled person navigating the journey there and back themselves.

 

Enlisting the help of a friend or family member with a car is another option, but the car does have to be able to accommodate a handicapped person, and again, the whole operation is extremely time-consuming and complicated for the person helping out. Even when you get to your destination, the lack of a handicap parking permit would mean there’s no guarantee you’ll even find a space close to where you need to be, potentially rendering the whole trip a complete waste of time. The disabled parking permit is the missing ingredient that prevents most handicapped people from ever visiting their doctor, except in cases of emergency – the irony of the situation being that you need to visit the doctor in order to acquire the parking permit in the first place. This tragic catch-22 means that disabled people aren’t getting the help they need and, more importantly, deserve and are entitled to by U.S. law.

Fortunately, modern technology is providing an answer to this conundrum in the form of telemedicine. Telemedicine is a term that describes a form of medical treatment prescribed through telecommunications. When the system was first introduced back 50-odd years ago, this meant telephones, and telephones alone. These days, the ever-growing field of telemedicine encompasses a wide range of gadgets, including laptops, Skype, smartphones, apps, and tablets. For people unable to reach a doctor for whatever reason, telemedicine is providing a route to rapid, effective treatment that can be scheduled in the comfort of the person’s own home. It doesn’t even limit itself to disabled people; there are plenty of patients living in remote areas across the country who simply can’t access a doctor for a simple clinic visit. These people too are being helped immeasurably by the healthcare industry’s progression and adoption of telemedicine.

 

Dr Handicap - nurse with patient

Disabled people who require a handicap parking permit to visit their doctor can now avail of a quick and simple evaluation online, and be granted access to this all-important document without needing to use it to get it (if that makes sense!). Once the patient has a handicap parking permit, any future doctor’s visit, whether they are driving themselves or enlisting the help of a friend or family member to drive them, won’t seem so daunting. In fact, it’s not just a visit to the clinic that a disabled parking permit helps with; the handicapped patient can drive anywhere they like, safe in the knowledge that there’s always a parking spot available to them if and when they need it. For some patients, the mental barrier to embarking on a difficult journey is often almost as strong as the physical one. A disabled parking permit provides peace of mind, and will encourage handicapped people to visit the doctor when they need or want to.

It might not seem like a big deal to an able-bodied person for whom a far-removed parking space is merely an inconvenience, but for the severely disabled, a handicap parking permit can literally change their life, giving them the freedom to move around their hometown or city. Unfortunately, the first step to getting this crucial document is usually a trip to the local healthcare professional – which is where telemedicine comes in to save the day. This is just one fine example of how telemedicine is paving the way for modern-day healthcare through the utilization of technology that’s now available to pretty much anyone, anywhere.