Improve Access to Healthcare

Telemedicine software enables patients to receive medical care regardless of their geographical location. It’s particularly beneficial for people living in rural or remote areas with limited access to healthcare facilities, or who have mobility issues and chronic conditions.

Patients can schedule appointments at their convenience and meet healthcare providers from the comfort of their homes or workplaces.

Expand the Reach of Healthcare Providers

Healthcare providers can use telemedicine technology to reach and serve a larger patient population. They can connect with patients beyond their local area, making it easier to provide specialized care and consultation. It not only helps practitioners improve their medical expertise and reach, but also provides them with new revenue opportunities.

Provide Timely and Continual Care

Delayed diagnosis and treatment are a patient’s worst nightmare. By providing consistent and proactive consultations, telemedicine ensures prompt diagnoses and an effective recovery process.

Patients can schedule emergency appointments or routine checkups as needed. They can have follow-up appointments with the same healthcare provider, regardless of their physical location or time zone.

Reduce Costs

Telemedicine systems help streamline healthcare by eliminating paperwork, which reduces administrative burdens and increases efficiency. Providers can access patient records electronically, share diagnostic images and collaborate with colleagues in real time, leading to faster diagnoses and treatment decisions.

Increase Patient Engagement and Participation

Telemedicine software is designed to promote patients’ involvement in their own care. Patients can access their medical records, receive educational materials and communicate securely with their healthcare providers. This empowers patients to take an active role in their healthcare and promotes better health outcomes.

FAQs

What are the goals and objectives of telemedicine?

The main objective of telemedicine is to provide primary and urgent healthcare services remotely. Using technology, it aims to replace traditional in-person consultations and processes with comparable virtual care.

Here are some more goals and objectives of telemedicine:

• Provide cost-effective and on-demand healthcare services to people in remote areas.
• Ensure continual monitoring of patients through video conferencing and wearables devices.
• Facilitate cooperation among doctors, nurses, patients and other medical professionals to address critical issues proactively.
• Provide medical training to doctors from the comfort of their homes.

What are the uses of telemedicine?

Even after the worst of the COVID-19 crisis ended, the demand for online health services continues to grow. Remote consultations have made it possible for patients and doctors across different departments to benefit from timely and effective healthcare.

Telemedicine is an effective way to facilitate online consultations for general healthcare, mental health counseling, physical therapy and more.

During the pandemic, telemedicine technology was used widely to screen people for COVID-19 symptoms. This includes using infra-red thermal imaging cameras to check fever, mobile apps to track zonal health and specialized monitoring devices for COVID patients. Telemedicine was instrumental in keeping doctors and patients alike safe during the worst of the pandemic, making it an invaluable tool for people to use in times of crisis.

Here are some common use cases of telemedicine:

• Primary Care: Telemedicine in primary care enables patients to have first-time and follow-up consultations with primary care doctors and doctors across a range of specialties, like gynecology, pediatrics, cardiology and mental health.
• Intensive Care: Experienced practitioners can provide continual and specialized care to patients using telemedicine. It enables them to examine a patient’s medical history, conduct lab tests and create an on-site treatment plan for the diagnosis. This includes care for patient populations with specific needs, from the elderly to pregnant women to people with disabilities.
• Mental Health: Mental health professionals can offer therapy remotely using video conferencing platforms for various conditions, including anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Encrypted communication channels protect sensitive patient information during teletherapy sessions with HIPAA-compliant providers.
• Pediatrics: Doctors can monitor essential health stats like the blood pressure, cardiac rates and respiration with the help of digital medical wearables, including digital stethoscopes, EKG machines, baby monitors and smart sensors. These devices record and share necessary health data with doctors online and help expedite the treatment process.
• Disaster Relief: Telemedicine provides remote healthcare services to disaster-stricken populations using teleconferencing. Healthcare professionals can evaluate patients’ conditions, provide initial medical advice and determine if further medical intervention is necessary. On-site responders, such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and field medics can connect with off-site healthcare professionals for guidance and support.

More areas where telemedicine is used include:

• Physical therapy
• Dermatology
• Orthopedics
• Geriatrics
• Telepathology
• Post-operative care
• Telepsychiatry
• Surgical care
• Radiology
• Dermatology
• Ophthalmology

What are the types of telemedicine?

The different types of telemedicine include:

• Live telemedicine, also known as interactive medicine, involves phone and video consultations between doctors and patients.
• Remote monitoring helps doctors collect and evaluate health data, and prescribe medication.
• Store-and-forward solutions allow users to store and share medical information, such as ultrasounds, MRIs, X-rays and bone scans, with specialists and intensive care professionals.
• Online pharmacies enable patients to order, refill and update prescriptions online, and conduct virtual consultations with pharmacists.
• EMR devices allow patients to share vital health information, like pulse rates, blood pressure and glucose levels, with healthcare providers and receive appropriate medication.

What are the features of telemedicine software?

Telemedicine software includes a range of features designed to facilitate remote healthcare consultations and streamline treatment.

Here are some common features:

1. Video Consultations: The software provides secure and HIPAA-compliant video conferencing capabilities, allowing healthcare providers and patients to have face-to-face virtual consultations. This feature enables real-time communication, visual examination and the ability to discuss symptoms, diagnosis and treatment plans.

2. Patient Portal: Patients can log in to an online portal to access necessary medical records, book appointments, view doctor listings, manage payment details and more.

3. Appointment Scheduling: It allows patients to request and schedule virtual appointments. Providers can manage their schedules, send appointment reminders and more to ensure efficient utilization of their time.

4. File Sharing and Document Upload: Patients can securely upload and share documents, images or test results with their healthcare providers. It facilitates the exchange of medical information, enabling providers to make accurate diagnoses and treatment recommendations. Some solutions offer ePrescribing functionality, enabling healthcare providers to electronically send prescriptions to patients’ pharmacies.

5. Doctor Profiles: Doctors can create unique profiles with their personal information like educational qualifications, years of practice, location and specialization. It allows patients to access these profiles through shareable links, view their availability and working hours and rate and write reviews after the appointment.

6. Billing and Payment Processing: These solutions allow you to process online payments for virtual consultations, and integrate with third-party payment gateways and apps to facilitate secure and quick transactions.

7. Secure Messaging: The messaging functionality allows real-time communication between healthcare providers and patients. Patients can ask questions, share updates and receive guidance from doctors, nurses, field experts and other specialists.

8. Electronic Health Records (EHR) Integration: Integration with electronic health records systems enables access to patient medical records during virtual consultations. Healthcare providers can review medical history, allergies, medications and other relevant information, ensuring continual care and informed decision-making.

9. Remote Monitoring Integration: Some solutions may integrate with remote monitoring devices or wearable technologies. This integration allows doctors to collect patient health data, such as vital signs, glucose levels and activity levels, and analyze it to monitor patients’ health remotely.

10. Mobile Application: Patients can look up doctors based on their issues, book appointments, purchase medicines, make payments, request checkups and more on the mobile app. Real-time notifications alert patients about appointment availability, prescription renewals, upcoming appointments and cancellations.

How does telemedicine software benefit hospitals, doctors and patients?

Hospitals

• Frees up emergency rooms by facilitating virtual ICU and critical care consultations and monitoring.
• Automates online delivery of test results, prescriptions, invoices, health records and other essential documentation, reducing paperwork and manual data entry, as well as overhead costs associated with in-person visits.
• Generates more revenue through subscription billing and recurring payment plans.

Doctors

• Allows them to consult with patients virtually, analyze the seriousness of the problem, prescribe medication and adapt their treatment plan to each patient’s needs. It saves time and effort on in-person visits and helps doctors maintain a better work-life balance.
• They can see patients on their off days and in times of emergencies, making healthcare more accessible and proactive.
• Allows them to provide physical therapy sessions online, making it easier to treat patients with physical disabilities or similar issues that restrict movement.
• Increases revenue through follow-up visits and a higher number of daily consultations.
• Reduces their exposure to disease-causing bacteria and viruses, minimizing the risk of health issues.

Patients

• Allows them to book online appointments based on their preferred time and slot, making it convenient to receive medical care without time or location barriers.
• They can request prescription refills to avoid missing doses and reduce the impact of medication.
• They save money spent on traveling to a hospital or clinic, and use insurance plans to get subsidized healthcare.
• Minimizes the risk of transmitting bacteria and viruses to other doctors and patients.
• Provides timely and confidential care from the comfort of their homes.

What are the barriers to telemedicine?

Here are some of the challenges faced by professionals in the field of telemedicine:

• Internet issues lead to poor-quality visuals during video calls, audio lags, system incompatibilities and incomplete appointments.
• Cybersecurity threats like hacking, password theft and unauthorized access may compromise patient information and confidential databases.
• There’s limited scope to scale the software to growing needs in the number of doctors or patients, or to technological advancements.
• Inconsistent reimbursement policies result in doctors, hospitals and other medical institutions not getting paid for providing online healthcare.
• Lack of interstate licenses among physicians prevents them from practicing outside of their states.
• High costs due to the need for advanced technology, like peripheral hardware and digital monitoring devices, make it harder to implement telemedicine.

What’s the difference between telemedicine and telehealth?

Telehealth and telemedicine are often used interchangeably, but they have slightly different meanings.

Telehealth encompasses a range of health-related services that use electronic information and communication technologies. It includes clinical services, patient education, health monitoring and other administrative activities.

Telemedicine is a subset of telehealth that helps provide clinical healthcare services remotely using telecommunications technology. It involves the diagnosis, treatment and monitoring of patients through video calls, phone consultations, secure messaging and other virtual communication methods.

What’s the cost of telemedicine software?

Pricing can vary based on specific business needs, but the size of your organization will play a significant role in the cost of telemedicine software. SaaS telemedicine software is commonly used by hospitals and doctors, while smaller startups might opt for a while-labeled solution. For more advanced use cases, some vendors offer customized plans.

Most telemedicine software providers offer packages based on the size of your practice and how many unique providers will use it. Others offer scalable pricing to add practitioners to the telemedicine software platform.

Practices with one or a few providers may opt for one of the scalable telemedicine packages. Bigger organizations and enterprises may prefer a package designed specifically for large-scale operations.

Other factors that might affect the cost include:

• Add-on features, such as incorporating telemedicine peripheral devices
• Implementation and onboarding, especially for larger operations
• Monthly data usage
• Custom branding services
• Mobile application
• Ongoing development and maintenance
• Integrations with third-party platforms
• Hardware and specialized equipment
• Staff training

How do I select a telemedicine system?

Finding the right telemedicine software from the multitude of options available in the market can be challenging. Here are some steps you can take to simplify the selection process and zero down on a suitable option for your needs:

• Specify your challenges: Before you purchase a solution, it’s essential to have a clear sense of what purpose it should serve. Talk to nurses, attendants, patients and other staff members to understand their concerns and problems, and determine how the software would help address them.
• List top requirements: Based on the issues you’ve identified, prepare a checklist of your business requirements. For example, if the number of people who use the platform is likely to increase in the future, you’ll need a scalable solution. Similarly, for patients living in remote areas, a mobile version of the software would be essential.
• Evaluate key features: While ease of use, accessibility and cost-effectiveness are key characteristics of a reliable telemedicine solution, it should also offer the basic features needed to suit different types of needs. These include audio and video conferencing, patient registration and dashboard, appointment management, virtual prescriptions, patient feedback and more.
• Compare pricing: After shortlisting a couple of solutions that meet your requirements, compare the pricing plans of each vendor. Talk to them about installation and equipment costs, terms for refunds and cancellations, hidden charges, support fees and more. Most vendors offer tiered or fixed pricing options, while some also provide customized solutions to users with complex requirements.
• Run a free demo: You can ask the vendor for a free software demo to assess it for bug fixes, bandwidth and compatibility issues, storage limitations and more, and analyze how it solves specific pain points for your use case.

Here are some more aspects you can consider while evaluating different telemedicine solutions:

• Compliance with local and state licensing laws, and industry regulations like HIPAA
• Ease of use
• Customization tools
• Patient and staff training
• Internet bandwidth and data security
• Hardware integration
• Patient and provider support
• Clinical documentation
• Third-party integrations with external apps and services