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Does Your Telehealth Partner Have Longevity in the Industry?

Posted: October 31, 2022

Over 75% of hospitals in the U.S. use at least one form of virtual connection to help care for their patients. As time progresses, the need for medical practices to have reliable, efficient forms of telecommunication is only increasing. Since there are so many options when it comes to virtual care solutions, it’s important to know what to look for when selecting a telehealth partner to offer patients the easiest and most effective experience possible.

Are They Leveraging AI?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a valuable resource that’s gaining traction in the medical field. Among many other purposes, using AI can make it easier for doctors to manage their workload and understand their patients, and for patients to get their questions answered efficiently.

Some other ways that AI can be used include realtime summary of medical conversations, virtual nurses, health record analysis, visit scheduling, long-distance patient diagnosis, mental health support, medical training, and remote patient monitoring. A quality telehealth provider should be seeking out ways to incorporate AI into their practice and use it to its fullest capability.

Do They Offer Remote Patient Monitoring?

For patients whose health complications make travel difficult or dangerous, a safe option for their doctor to care for them comes in the form of remote monitoring. This is simply any way that a doctor monitors the well-being of a patient without in-person interaction. This can include heart rate monitors, weight scales, and blood glucose meters that send data to the doctor to be analyzed. Doctors should be able to monitor changes in their at-risk patients’ health, even over a distance.

Do They Offer Robust Interoperability?

Any form of virtual communication between a doctor and a patient is rendered useless if the doctor is unable to gather the information they need to help the patient. A telehealth provider must have the ability to integrate with any EHR/EMR system, send and receive information in real time so that doctors can effectively access it, and ensure that it gets sent to the right locations to be analyzed.

Customizability

It’s important for a telehealth system to be customizable according to the needs of the medical practices and patients it serves. For example, each practice follows a different set of workflows. These workflows should guide the type of telehealth solution that is used and the configuration of the platform.

Do They Make Your Workflow Easy to Use?

A difficult-to-use online program can slow down the process of medical care, causing frustration for everyone involved and in some cases, a matter of life and death. That’s why it’s important to choose a telehealth provider with a seamless, intuitive system so that doctors and patients can interact with maximum efficiency.

Can They Customize Your Workflow to Fit Your Needs?

Because all patients are different, some may prefer different means of communication than others, so in order to have the most effective virtual healthcare possible, they should be offered an experience that they are most comfortable with. In addition, doctors may have specific ways of going through processes that they are already familiar with, and a telehealth provider should be able to meet their needs as well.

Connectivity

For obvious reasons, having a reliable connection with a patient is a necessity for medical practices using virtual visits.

Are Your Providers Able to Connect from Anywhere?

If a telehealth provider only offers video call services or requires high-speed internet for remote visits, some patients in rural areas may be unable to connect with their doctor. This can be a significant setback and can prevent doctors from successfully treating patients. A good telehealth provider should have equal options for patients who live in areas without quality internet access.

Can Your Providers Connect from Any Device or Web Browser?

Patients and doctors should be able to virtually communicate no matter what device they have access to and which browser they prefer to use. Whether it is a computer, smartphone, or tablet, it should be easy for patients to reach their doctor whenever they need to, and for doctors to access patient information without any device or browser restriction.

Contact Let’s Talk Interactive today and work with a telehealth partner with proven success and longevity.