What is Telemedicine Software Solutions?
Telemedicine companies use the best telecommunications technologies to bridge the gap between medical professionals and patients. This telecommunications technology is available in the form of telemedicine software. Telemedicine platform is thus used for online medical visits by patients for treatment from doctors, specialists, or health care providers.
Referral, appointments, care plans, treatment, specialist doctor visits, and consultation are some of the key services provided by the telehealth software to patients. Telemedicine devices are convenient healthcare tools for patients and doctors alike. Both parties can benefit from Telemedicine software's cost-saving, time reduction, reimbursement, revenue-generating, and easy access capabilities.
What is the use of telemedicine software?
The telemedicine software platform is being used increasingly for their various benefits. Some of the important telehealth examples are:
Specialized Care and Treatment: Avail services of some of the best available specialist doctors through online medical visits. Even bedridden patients can consult doctors through virtual meetings by using telemedicine software.
Diagnosing Ailments as a Team: Video conferencing and audio calls feature have made it possible for doctors and health care providers to diagnose the illnesses of a patient and recommend a care plan accordingly.
Emergency Healthcare: In any emergency situation, where a patient might be taken to a hospital in an ambulance, the telemedicine software platform lets a doctor stay present virtually with the patient till the patient reaches the hospital safely.
Clinical Studies: Pharmaceutical and research companies use telemedicine technologies for conducting clinical studies for testing various results, hypotheses and reports.
Post-Hospitalization Services: Doctors can track the progress of a patient post-hospitalization with telemedicine software and suggest the best medicines and lifestyle accordingly.
Taking second Opinions: Patients and doctors can take second opinions from an expert sitting in some other corner of the world virtually through telemedicine software.
8 Benefits of Telemedicine Systems
1. Cost-efficient: Of course, if you are in a remote location where health services are situated afar, telemedicine software is your most trusted partner. Not just you save time but also the costs of visiting a specialty clinic. Even those who have easy access to hospitals/clinics prefer telehealth devices for they are cost-efficient and save time for both patients and doctors.
2. Reduced risk (for catching infections): Even doctors and healthcare workers are at high risk of catching infections and contagious diseases in a hospital environment. Thus, telemedicine software solutions are indeed a blessing for critical patients and doctors.
3. Patient retention: Patients are given the incentive of saving both time and money. So, they would obviously prefer a telemedicine software platform for consulting a doctor. It is for this reason that telemedicine software witnesses high patient retention rates.
4. Quality care: Telemedicine software in India and abroad ensures that patients get timely treatment wherever they are. With the help of telemedicine devices, doctors assure that the condition of a patient stabilizes through medicine before they reach a hospital.
5. Patient engagement: Doctors can ensure through telemedicine software and virtual meetings that their patients are diligently following the treatment and care plan. In due course, the patients’ engagement is improved which in turn leads to improved health outcomes.
6. High revenue potential: Doctors can take up more patients through telemedicine platforms compared to in-person visits. As a result, the revenue potential here is higher as more patients mean additional fee collection.
7. Specialist's services: Rural or urban, the location doesn't matter as long as you are paying a visit to the doctor through telehealth software solutions. A general physician or a specialist doctor, you can consult anyone virtually as per your prevailing condition.
8. Flexible appointment timings: Doctors can even manage appointments during the weekends through telemedicine software. Location is never a problem with telemedicine software. Instant messaging, audio call or video conference, telehealth software provides flexible features to accommodate a doctor's or a patient's preferences.
Most Common Features of Telemedicine Software
EHR integration: Electronic Health Record (EHR) integration within telemedicine software helps in enhancing the efficiency of the hospital staff in scheduling appointments and sharing information related to the patients. This also reduces the possibility of errors in managing patient reports.
Reimbursement engine: There are patients who are eligible for reimbursements. Instead of hospital staff and health providers spending valuable time for calculating reimbursements, it is the telemedicine technologies that make the task easy through their sophisticated algorithmic systems.
Integrated audio/video sessions: Audio/video sessions are good telehealth examples. Telemedicine provides live video/audio streaming features to ensure quality patient care. Telehealth software is also used for developing treatment plans and care solutions with the help of live sessions.
Clinical documentation: Telemedicine software solutions create clinical documents electronically so that the same can be recorded and consulted for treatment purposes. The entire process is online and a patient’s treatment history can be conveniently referred by doctors as and when required.
Patient history: Doctors can use the telemedicine software platform for accessing patient history directly from the stored electronic records. CT scans, medical reports, medications, pictures, and the date of appointments can be directly checked/rechecked by telemedicine software.
Integration with peripheral devices: Peripheral devices can be integrated with telemedicine software. It is equally easy to go through lab reports and test results as images and videos can be shared with the help of telemedicine software in real-time. This feature is pivotal in enhancing remote diagnostic capabilities.
Robotic assistance: Telehealth software is configurable as per a doctor's clinical preferences. Telemedicine software companies have created telemedicine robots for specialist doctors. These robots drive around the hospital premises to provide the specialists with a preview of the patient's condition. These robots can also be configured.
BAA support: The business Associate Agreement (BAA) ensures that the mechanism for storing information within the telemedicine software server is reliable and well documented. BAA support assures that the telehealth software is dedicated to serving patients with full integrity and commitment.
HIPAA compliance: HIPAA compliance ensures full security to the video/audio consultations, even the messages are encrypted end to end.
How to find the best Telemedicine Solutions?
Telemedicine software solutions are convenient healthcare platforms for doctors and patients. For selecting the right software, use the following guidelines:
Mobility: A telemedicine system needs to be highly configurable so that it can be used on any computing device based on the convenience of the doctor/healthcare provider and patient. Mobile, tablet, or computer, none of this should be a hindrance.
Costs: While there are free demos available, the end-user has to make the right choice based on the features and pricing. The budget should be kept in view and telemedicine software has to be decided as per the resources available at one’s disposal.
HD video/audio: Consultations can't be completed only over instant messaging. Video and audio calls have to be of high definition quality as doctors need to monitor closely to make quick assessments for the patient in question. Since these telehealth systems also provide specialist doctor services, HD video/audio calling feature is even more important.
Remote camera control: Cameras should be such that assessing patients during video calls is a hassle-free process. The remote camera control feature will help with zoom in/out, lighting, etc. through a webcam.
Ease of use: Patients can't be expected to be always tech-savvy to handle complicated functions of a telemedicine software solution. So, opt for telemedicine software with modules and specifications that are simple and user-friendly for all types of patients.
Features: Now this depends on your budget, size of clinic/hospital, and specialty care services offered. Weigh all possible factors and other requirements at your clinic or hospital to select the best telemedicine software that has features that fit your needs.