A new power has originated at the top of the healthcare pyramid:
telemedicine. This recent movement shortens the bottom-up care
process, allowing treatment to occur at the top, exactly where it
originated by patients through remote consultations, diagnostic
services, and even follow-up care. In an increasingly busy society,
where the swift prevalence of communications technology indebtedness
has effectively leveled the physical boundaries of the world, it’s now
far easier and more common to make a phone call or send a text message
than it is to schedule an in-person visit to meet someone
face-to-face, often with another person sitting in a middleman’s
office. The act of calling in brings things down to the physical
level. Telemedicine capitalizes on these events, putting the care back
at the peak of the pyramid, on the same level as it started. Now,
patients can receive remote care without the burdensome costs of time
and transportation associated with a physical visit. Telemedicine
capitalizes on the ease and speed of dispersed communications. The
obvious benefit of telemedicine is the timeliness of the care it
provides: without the time and hassle, patients are more likely to
receive it.
Access to care is known to influence health outcomes significantly.
Apart from enhanced health outcomes, when care is accessible, patients
have positive experiences. Custom telemedicine platforms improve
patient access to care because access barriers are better addressed
with solutions tailored to serve the needs of specific populations of
patients while also promoting user experience and integration into
existing health infrastructure and healthcare services, among other
possibilities. This blog highlights the advantages of custom
telemedicine platforms in improving patient access to services by
highlighting some enhanced key areas. It also emphasizes the elements
helpful in designing custom telemedicine platforms to enhance patient
access to healthcare services.
From coordinating dozens and even hundreds of patients for intake and
sifting through stacks of symptom-based figures to providing
customized care, these custom telemedicine platforms are tailored,
rich software solutions designed to empower patients and providers to
interact over secure video calls, messaging, and other digital tools.
These are beyond the typical ‘one size fits all’ telemedicine software
currently on the market. They are standard applications for medical
professionals to connect with patients over video and audio calls.
Ders knowledge of a healthcare organization’s workflow,
specialization, type of patients, and demographics, these
fully-fledged custom telemedicine platforms at our disposal are a
time-saving and efficient tool.
Because custom telemedicine platforms can be built to harness the
functionalities of HIPAA-compliant electronic health records (EHR),
practice management, and other clinical systems, they can be built to
work in an existing and complex healthcare environment rather than
forcing healthcare providers to adapt to a one-size-fits-all solution.
Custom platforms can also harness the power of unique features, such
as multilingual support, specialized scheduling, appointment forms,
and targeted patient education. In an era in which healthcare
organizations are required to demonstrate improvements in patient
engagement, satisfaction, and access to care, bespoke solutions –
extending these values to telemedicine – will represent a clear
differentiator versus off-the-shelf systems.
One specific contribution of custom telemedicine platforms to the
healthcare ecosystem is to break down regional or geographic barriers
that inhibit patients from having timely access to medical care. For
people living far away from or in medically underserved areas, along
with those in remote or rural areas with limited healthcare resources
and specialists nearby, virtual consultations can bring the healthcare
provider to the patient’s doorstep, empowering them to seek their
medical advice and prevent needing to drive long hours before seeking
treatment. These individuals can stay home and receive medical advice,
treatment, and follow-ups as needed.
Furthermore, with unlimited access to custom telemedicine platforms,
patients have 24/7 access to healthcare providers and specialists. The
availability around the clock makes it easier for patients to receive
medical care on their own terms. They can consult with providers at
midnight after waking up from a stomach bug instead of waiting to call
during business hours. Or they can schedule an appointment to see a
dermatologist during their lunch break over a video call. The
convenience of telemedicine platforms empowers patients to take
control of their healthcare needs. Therefore, this type of access
increases patient engagement and promotes a proactive approach to
health management.
User-friendliness also affects patient engagement with the interface –
the degree to which patients can use the telemedicine intervention. A
poorly designed platform can impede patients’ use of the system and
make the experience less straightforward and confusing (ultimately
steering patients away from the system by negatively impacting their
satisfaction and utilization rates). Specially designed telemedicine
platforms can include intuitive navigation building blocks,
instructions, and task flow that cater to the users’ tech-savviness,
fostering higher engagement among patients and making them more likely
to use the system as needed.
Further customization improves user experience and can enhance the
user journey for different patient populations. For example, making
the platform available in multilingual versions can help non-native
speakers access their healthcare and adapt the dashboard to their
liking for patient groups that need personalization. Consistent visual
design to simplify navigation or step-by-step guides with buttons
giving fast access to key functionality, such as appointment
scheduling or prescription refills, can all enhance usability.
Linking telemedicine platforms to electronic health records (EHRs) and
practice management systems can substantially improve healthcare
delivery. Joining these disparate systems allows for seeing a
patient’s medical history, medications, and past treatments alongside
the video conferencing call. This eliminates the time spent manually
moving the information from one system to another, speeds up workflow,
and aids in clinical decision-making by having the solution in front
of you as you decide how to proceed.
Above all, integration is a mechanism to enable the continuity of
care. With patients having a unified system, barriers are removed, and
relevant patient information is easily accessible to all providers in
their care team. For patients with chronic conditions or who receive
care from multiple specialties, access to timely information is
critical in ensuring proper coordination of care and a successful and
smooth patient experience. Moreover, integrated systems can facilitate
the implementation of the follow-up care required by many patients.
Whether it’s through automatically scheduling appointments, sending
reminders, or delivering, they can easily be ‘met where they are’ to
ensure optimal engagement and satisfaction. Integrating telemedicine
platforms into existing systems has far-reaching advantages.
Practically, centralization ensures that access to virtual care exists
for anyone who registers with the system, wherever they live, and
their insurance situation.
Improved communication channels are a major pillar of custom
telemedicine platforms, featuring secure messaging, video consults,
and remote follow-ups. These features afford better, faster
interactions between patients and physicians. Secure messaging means
patients can directly message their physician with questions and
concerns, getting responses quickly without scheduling an in-person
visit. For example, if a patient has new symptoms or questions about
medications or their treatment regimen, secure messaging allows them
to communicate with their physician seamlessly. Video consults also
allow patients to interact with their physicians in a ‘face-to-face’
manner. Video can better assist a physician in assessing a patient or
making a diagnosis visually, helping foster a personal and comfortable
patient-physician relationship.
For many patients, this element alone is critical to building and
maintaining a strong patient-physician relationship. Moreover, these
powerful communication channels amplify the relationships between
patients and providers by increasing providers’ time and attention.
Empathetic physicians showing face time via real-time interactions
affirm their commitment to patient care and responsiveness. This
further bolsters their shared relationship and establishes a more
committed and satisfied patient base with higher satisfaction ratings
and more follow-up appointments. An added advantage of virtual
follow-ups is continuity of care, which empowers providers to monitor
patients for recovery or treatment adjustments and enables a more
engaged patient who feels supported. Addressing patient queries and
concerns preemptively enhances patient satisfaction and fortifies
patient participation, as health is ultimately driven by patient
empowerment.
The administrative burden of scheduling and maintaining a telemedicine
or air medicine encounter is lower for patients and providers alike.
Since patients don’t need to incur the additional costs of attending
in person (gas, parking, public transit), they can also save valuable
time on travel. And if they’re working, they may not even need to take
time off sick. Additionally, many patients interacting with the
healthcare system from home become more accessible. This benefit
applies to many rural, surrounding areas and other underserved groups
who could usually travel to medical facilities but often find it
challenging to attend regular appointments. Air medical programs
deliver critical care to the doorsteps of patients in remote
communities. New technologies will broaden our ability to provide
services at the patient’s bedside. If the services are easy to access,
patients are more likely to seek follow-up care and medical attention.
This can only improve health outcomes.
In the context of a custom telemedicine platform, providers can see
substantial financial gains by improving operational efficiencies.
More consultations can be delivered in a shorter amount of time.
Providers can also run a more efficient office by reducing the costs
of maintaining physical office space. Patients could be more likely to
attend an appointment with telemedicine. No-show rates tend to be
lower for appointments done via telemedicine because there is minimal
travel time, and the appointment can occur in the comfort of a
patient’s home. Administrative tasks such as scheduling and billing
can be streamlined using a custom-built platform, reducing
administrative burden for staff members so they can better focus on
the patient themselves rather than purely operational tasks.
Increasing operational efficiencies can help providers serve more
people while not increasing costs. This makes providers more
sustainable and potentially healthier from a financial standpoint.
Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual
reality (VR) are catalyzing the emergence of enhanced telemedicine
platforms. AI can automate administrative tasks of telemedicine,
analyze patient data to make tailored care recommendations, and even
assist the diagnostic process considerably. For instance, machine
learning algorithms can predict patient’s needs based on historical
data to enable proactive healthcare provision. In conjunction with AI,
VR will disrupt patient interactions and revolutionize telemedicine by
using immersive environments for therapy sessions and remotely
observed medical procedures, training simulations, and examinations
via avatars. Hence, custom telemedicine solutions will increasingly
leverage these technologies to improve healthcare provision by
providing patients with immersive experiences and unparalleled content
delivery. It will ultimately enable more people in more places to
benefit from healthcare.
In the future, the most sophisticated custom-built telemedicine
platforms will become even more sophisticated in facilitating access
and the continuum of patient care. Data-gathering in collaboration
with more advanced health monitors and electronic wearables will share
patient information in real-time, allowing providers to monitor
patients at home and adjust a treatment plan if needed. A new way of
world – a hybrid world – of care will likely be part of a new normal.
Physicians will likely see newly defined hybrid care pathways of
in-person visits, remote video visits, and other digital
communications with patients based on their needs. Post-pandemic
telemedicine is here to stay. It has worked for both patients and
providers in a crisis. As healthcare organizations pivot to a new,
more digitally first norm, more services will be provided virtually,
with telemedicine leading the way, expanding access, enhancing
outcomes, and bringing a new resiliency to healthcare.
In conclusion, custom telemedicine is greatly transforming healthcare. Patients get more actively involved in healthcare management by reducing travel times associated with seeking medical attention, personalizing user experience, and interfacing with existing systems. Besides the communication channels created, these telemedical solutions also save costs for patients and providers alike, thus creating a more efficient healthcare system. As the need for quality healthcare continuously rises, demand for this platform will also increase. This means that custom telemedicine will play a growing strategic role in healthcare delivery to ensure that quality care is accessible to everyone despite their circumstances and location.
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