Digital devices and technological infrastructure have made a major impact on nearly every working industry and continue to make waves in everyone’s day-to-day. In the healthcare industry, telemedicine and telehealth solutions have transformed the way care is both delivered and received.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the benefits of telehealth and how it can improve the quality of care for the patient and enables providers to streamline the care delivery process.
Benefits of telehealth for patients
Getting care in their own community
When rural patients have limited access to transportation, there’s also limited access to care options. For example, according to a recent Modern Healthcare article, there are only 186 physicians for every 100,000 people in the state of Mississippi. That means when these individuals need care from a specialist, they’re either placing themselves on a waiting list or finding a way to travel for care no matter what it takes. Throw bad weather into the mix, and these patients might find themselves skipping care appointments altogether.
With the help of telemedicine, patients in rural areas have the opportunity to explore virtual visits instead, using telehealth technology for primary care visits, treatment for chronic health conditions, pre/post procedure follow up appointments and more.
Enhancing healthcare quality with multiple touch-points
Technology has a way of improving our everyday lives, and the same holds true when it comes to the level and quality of care received. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, telemedicine has the ability to enhance healthcare quality across the board. Advanced telehealth solutions improve service via virtual visits and can make medical decision-making easier because it makes it seamless for providers to have multiple touch points with their patients.
Increase patient touch points with telehealth and virtual visits.
Benefits of telehealth for physicians
Convenience is a competitive advantage
The healthcare landscape is leaning towards patient-centered care. This concept is all about allowing patients to guide and make their own care decisions, according to Modern Healthcare. As consumers continue to seek patient-centered care options, it’s important for providers to spark a competitive edge against alternative healthcare options and turn new patients into returners. With a telemedicine platform, you give patients the option to connect to their providers almost instantaneously, providing a patient-centered care option that’s more feasible and convenient.
Improve efficiency of care delivery
A daily schedule of appointments in the healthcare industry is nothing short of hectic. When telehealth is leveraged as a tool, your facility can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery to patients, and streamline workflows among your staff members. Specifically, telemedicine has the ability to make it easier for clinicians to instantly connect patients with remote specialists instead of scheduling time for these parties to meet in person.
“With telehealth, the existing ED workflow can be evolved to enhance access and drive collaboration between onsite providers and offsite specialists,” Lee Horner of Stratus Video wrote for Becker’s Hospital Review. “Providers will still need to be able to access an on-call specialist; an on-call specialist will still need to be able to provide a consult. However, the time to reach a specialist for a consult can be reduced significantly.”
AMD Global Telemedicine offers a variety of telemedicine solutions that can enhance care coordination, increase patient engagement and improve the quality of care delivered and received in real-time.
For more information on how AMD can help your facility reap the benefits of telehealth, contact us today.
