Telemedicine is a significant part of modern health care. It has
gained further prominence over the last couple of years in the wake of
the COVID-19 pandemic, which sped up the transition to virtual care
during lockdown periods. Telemedicine allows patients to receive
medical services from the comfort of their homes by eliminating travel
time, geographic restrictions, and inconvenient scheduling conflicts.
As patients seek more convenient medical resources on their terms,
telemedicine has emerged as a crucial part of modern healthcare
delivery. It has significantly increased access to care for those who
live in rural or underserved areas.
Custom telemedicine platforms can be tailored to accommodate the
specific needs of healthcare sites and patients. In contrast,
off-the-shelf telemedicine solutions may not provide the necessary
flexibility of functionality to accommodate caregivers' workflows.
When customization is done well, telemedicine platforms can be
streamlined to provide a better user experience and create workflows
that genuinely meet the demands of care teams within healthcare sites.
This article aims to create a narrative illustrating how custom-built
telemedicine solutions can solve specific problems with facility
workflows and increase patient access to care. Building off of how
generic telemedicine solutions can fall short of the mark and showcase
the features and benefits of custom-built telemedicine solutions, it
can be proven how mirrored images of a custom telemedicine platform
can offer concrete methods to increase communication between
participants involved in virtual care, increase patient use of
services, and improve the effectiveness of healthcare delivery. With
the growing need for virtual access to care, understanding the role
that custom telemedicine platforms can play in bridging gaps in care
is imperative for healthcare professionals aiming to meet current and
future patient demands.
One of the most noteworthy health trends over the past year, no doubt,
has been the rise in telemedicine. In the wake of the COVID-19
pandemic, many studies pointed to a dramatic rise in the adoption of
telehealth services. As guidance regarding the COVID-19 pandemic
evolved, many healthcare providers pivoted to offer virtual visits to
preserve the continuity of necessary care while balancing exposure
risks during the pandemic and abiding by social distancing
recommendations. By some estimates, telehealth visits almost tripled –
increasing by about 154 percent in the first months compared with the
same timeframe for the preceding year.
There are some key factors, other than the pandemic, driving this
increase in demand for telehealth services. More patients have become
accustomed to the convenience of having their doctor’s visit over
video. They like scheduling a doctor’s appointment at a convenient
time. There has also been an improvement in the tools that providers
and patients use to connect. These tools include improved video
conferencing options and more secure communication technology to
enhance the quality of a virtual visit. Improved insurance coverage of
telemedicine services and supportive regulations allow more patients
to use telehealth solutions.
Telemedicine can help overcome geographic and physical barriers and
improve patients’ access to care. For people living in rural or
underserved areas, the need to travel long distances to receive care
can be a barrier to care. Telehealth allows people to receive the care
they need while staying in their community, thus reducing their time
and, potentially, finances spent on travel. For those with mobility
issues, chronic health conditions, or limited time to travel,
telemedicine can facilitate their regular check-ins or follow-ups with
their healthcare providers. In other words, telemedicine is not only
convenient for patients. Still, it can also improve health equity –
ensuring that high-quality care is accessible to a broader population
that may otherwise face barriers from physical and healthcare access
challenges.
Although these off-the-shelf telemedicine platforms have enabled
virtual care, widespread adoption has illuminated limitations.
Limitations like inflexibility and lack of customization are par for
the course. Most telemedicine platforms take a standardized,
one-size-fits-all approach to address the needs of an entire market.
However, this can come at the expense of providers and patients. When
implemented in a one-size-fits-all way, standard cloud-based
telemedicine tools only sometimes suit the varying workflows of
different healthcare organizations. These out-of-the-box telemedicine
tools may not meet the specific needs of a specialty population or
facility’s workflows, leading to pain points in their use.
Another significant challenge to standard telemedicine solutions can
be the degree of integration with existing health systems. Many
healthcare organizations use multiple electronic health record (EHR)
systems, billing software, and patient management tools to track their
data, bill for their services, and track care administration overall.
If the telemedicine platform used for communicating with patients
and/or physicians is not well-integrated into the patient’s various
health systems software, this could create unnecessary data silos and
can, therefore, dramatically affect how the entire organization
functions, disrupting access and experiences overall. For example,
gathering key specifics about a patient’s condition and sharing it
with the provider team can be tedious. Delays in sharing information
or poorly gathered information – even simple human errors in
communication – can lead to a disjointed, inefficient care process,
where everyone is working towards the same goal while not
communicating most effectively.
Custom telemedicine is explicitly tailored to the inherent workflows
of a healthcare organization. Customized telemedicine platforms are
built to bridge the gap between current organizational workflows and
known gaps in care, sometimes presenting new opportunities. It strives
to intersect the need to explore new care models at a lower cost with
the patient and provider's need for more efficient care. Building or
modifying an off-the-shelf commercial answer for custom care delivery
needs results in a more efficient and innovatively integrated approach
to care management. In short, custom telemedicine is tailored
specifically for a healthcare organization's inherent workflows and
defined patient population. Building a customized care solution
provides more benefits to the patient and the overall organization
without the bottlenecks of rigid off-the-shelf solutions. It enables
providers to connect more effectively with patients when standard
modalities aren’t delivering an adequate response for either the
patient or the provider, facilitating a more efficient and simplified
workflow.
Another significant advantage that a custom telemedicine platform can
offer is enhanced integration with other health IT systems. For
instance, a telemedicine system might be integrated with an electronic
health record (EHR) system or other patient-management tools, enabling
information systems to exchange data quickly, such as vitals and lab
reports. When providers access all their patients’ information, data
bottlenecks that slow down care and increase medical errors become
less likely, enabling providers to make more informed decisions and
coordinate care better. Solving integration challenges with custom
telemedicine systems increases care coordination, reduces medical
errors, and improves patient happiness and outcomes.
User experience and accessibility can also be enhanced with features
geared towards the most vulnerable patient populations. For example,
video visits and messaging can be offered in multiple languages,
assisting traditionally hard-of-hearing and non-English-speaking
patients in finding a provider and communicating their symptoms and
concerns. A mobile-friendly design allows patients to log in from
their smartphone or tablet, promoting engagement and adherence to
treatment plans. The most beneficial innovations provide convenience
without intrusion into the private realm. Such user-centric features
both improve the experience of telehealth as a whole and empower
patients to become more active in their healthcare. All of these
solutions benefit doctors, patients, and caregivers.
The custom telemedicine platform must feature a secure video
consultation and online communications tool to ensure privacy and
security for the patient and their provider. Encryption and protocols
protect the patient's health information during a virtual visit. Now,
a patient and their healthcare provider can converse about a sensitive
health condition in the privacy of that secure environment. This
protects not only HIPAA guidelines but also the trusting relationship
between patients and their providers. More patients will be
comfortable using this virtual care tool if it is a safe and private
conversation.
For instance, appointment scheduling and reminder systems that conform
to patient preferences are critical components of custom telemedicine
solutions to improve patient engagement and adherence. For example,
scheduling systems that involve intuitive interactive calendars on
custom telemedicine platforms can allow patients to schedule their
appointments based on convenience, decreasing the number of extraneous
barriers to care. Additionally, personalized scheduling reminders
(e.g., with a text reminder, an email reminder, or via an app
notification) to inform patients when they have an upcoming
appointment can reduce no-show rates and empower patients to feel
ownership over their healthcare journeys.
Remote monitoring devices and integration with wearables signify a
major step forward: a telemedicine world enhanced by continuous care
can connect a patient’s desktop with wearable technology. This enables
a healthcare system that can sense patients, see patients, and
ultimately strengthen patients with real-time responses by gathering
data about vital signs, activity, and other health-related markers
from remote monitoring devices that continuously measure health
metrics on patients. This further enhances patient support with tools
that enable proactive disease management of chronic conditions and
timely and personalized interventions, all tailored to each unique
patient’s needs.
One of the features of custom telemedicine platforms that supports
patient empowerment and informed choice is access to educational
resources and support services to address patients’ needs and provide
customized education. These custom telemedicine platforms may offer
educational articles, videos, or interactive educational tools for
patients on specific health conditions and/or treatment options.
Support services can also be provided to patients via virtual health
coaches or chatbots to address patient questions and guide patients
through their care journey. Patient empowerment and support may
increase human-to-human connection compared with physician-directed
interaction and foster adherence to treatment plans.
The advantage of custom telemedicine platforms for improving access
should not be understated, particularly for traditionally underserved
populations. By removing geographical barriers and providing
consultations virtually, individuals in rural or remote areas can
access specialized care without enduring extensive travel. Such an
increased and readily accessible provision of healthcare services is
essential for populations that might otherwise find it difficult to
receive timely treatment. Further to this, telemedicine can be a means
to address disparities in access for marginalized communities who may
lack the resources or means of transportation, allowing healthcare
providers to reach those targeted explicitly through efforts at health
equity.
Improved patient engagement is one such benefit, with greater patient
engagement influencing improved adherence to treatment plans. By
providing flexible appointment scheduling, personalized reminder
notifications, and easily accessible educational resources, custom
telemedicine platforms empower patients to engage actively in their
care. For example, when patients feel supported in maintaining
relationships with their providers, their engagement with the care
recommendations is also often bolstered. Additionally, by reducing the
number of no-show patients, custom telemedicine platforms enable
healthcare providers to optimize the number of patients in their
system at any given time, better utilizing the personnel and
facilities at their disposal. Ultimately, the focus and commitment of
patients that is facilitated by access to telemedicine platforms can
reduce no-shows and enhance the patient experience, cultivating a
culture of health promotion and patient engagement.
New technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning
will advance telemedicine platforms shortly. AI and machine learning
can improve telehealth services by improving patient diagnostics,
generating treatment recommendations, and predicting patient outcomes.
For instance, AI-driven algorithms can help analyze patient
information to catch risks and provide preventive health
recommendations. Machine learning can simplify telehealth by smoothing
appointment scheduling, triaging patient inquiries, and tailoring care
to fit individual patients’ needs. The future potential of these
technologies will make telemedicine an augmented platform, which we
will witness in the future.
Moving forward, we anticipate that future regulatory adjustments and
payor arrangements will shape patient access to care through
telehealth. Once regulatory structures recognize the value of
telemedicine, we will see policies that encourage the utilization of
telehealth services and support tech-enabled healthcare delivery. This
could take many forms, such as expanding reimbursement for telehealth
visits – especially in rural or socioeconomically disadvantaged areas
– to enable patients to receive virtual visits for which their
providers will gain income. When telehealth represents a vital
structure of healthcare delivery, reimbursement policies might evolve
to include more value-based care constructs – outcome-based
reimbursement that may link quality and satisfaction measures to
deriving payor income. This encouragement to invest in custom
telemedicine technologies will likely evolve toward solutions that
improve access to care and health-related outcomes in various
sociodemographic constituencies.
Thus, conclusively, custom telemedicine platforms can encourage patient engagement and adherence by helping to overcome the challenges faced by healthcare organizations and patients. It is clearly visible from the pros discussed above that these platforms ensure patient access to care. When these webs of telehealth are customised to the need of the patients and the organisations, it can create care portals where communication between the patients and provider is seamless. Overcoming geographic and health equity challenges becomes feasible and achievable. As the demand for telehealth increases over time, investing in custom solutions will enhance patient engagement and adherence, thereby making healthcare more accessible and empowering. With these advancements, access to care for all becomes assured irrespective of their geographic location or circumstances.
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