Healthcare and hospitality industry is one of the oldest and yet vital industries. Quality medical aids and healthcare are fundamental human rights and constitute more than 10% of the GDP of most developed countries. Hence, the healthcare industry consists of sectors constantly searching for innovative services and products that elevate healthcare quality and improve quality of life.
“Give the patients the best care they need quickly and effectively!”
One of the most prevalent challenges in providing quality healthcare has been the appointment making and the long wait at the doctor’s office or hospitals. Thankfully, appointment-taking can be automated using Appointment Booking using the IVR solution, and a video conferencing solution can prove to be a cost-effective solution that can severely reduce hospital visits and make patient-doctor interactions more accessible.
What is Video Conferencing System for Healthcare?
Instead of being physically present, video conferencing allows the patient and doctor to interact virtually using video as the communication medium. A real-life doctor-patient interaction can be replicated using high-quality video and audio transmission. Additionally, advanced features such as an intelligent screen sharing feature can help the patients, physicians, experts, lab staff, insurance, and billing staff to share and view treatment, insurance, and billing documents. Such quick communication between all the entities of the medical domain allows the patient to have the quality treatment and care without waiting in lines. Moreover, the communication lines are entirely secure, upholding doctor-patient confidentiality and being privy to data leaks.
The video conferencing system can be as complex as having a multi-point conferencing system that allows video conferencing as well as file transfer or as simple as a doctor connecting using a handheld device with barebones video conferencing technology. The recent pandemic warranted the need for an effective video conferencing system as it allowed medical personnel to help with consultation and treatment of their patients without coming in direct contact with them. Medical video conferencing can increase the quality of patient care while still keeping costs low.
Benefits of using Video Conferencing Solutions for the Healthcare Industry
Technological advancements
Ever since the inception of healthcare, technology has been a key player in helping doctors and caregivers in identifying new threats or uncover unknown medical anomalies. As mentioned earlier, the recent pandemic of 2019 forced people to maintain social distancing owing to the contagious nature of the disease. However, this was also causing medical professionals to put their lives in danger to provide quality healthcare. Doctors can virtually connect with patients using video conferencing and still manage to provide quality care. Even in the absence of the pandemic, video conferencing allows patients with mobility challenges owing to a medical condition or old age to receive quality medical assistance without physically visiting the hospital.
Geographical Limitation elimination
Owing to the geographical (or political) scenarios, places are still disconnected enough to face a short supply of quality healthcare. Video conferencing manages to counter the shortage as doctors can make a virtual ‘house call’, make their diagnosis, and do frequent follow-ups whenever needed. Additionally, specialists or consults can be made with other doctors as quickly as they hop on the video session.
Easy Knowledge Transfer
This benefit is directed toward the doctors than the patients. Doctors and healthcare personnel need to occasionally attend conferences and medical meets. However, most tend to pass on this opportunity as it means leaving behind their responsibilities and traveling to another location for the same. However, thanks to video conferencing, it becomes easier for doctors to collaborate and be a part of conferences at a fraction of the cost.
How Hospitals can use Video Conferencing Solutions?
- Socializing Tools. Regular visits or having a loved one by one’s side has shown positive results in the recovery outcomes for patients. Yet it became a challenge during the pandemic as necessary quarantine protocols barred people from being in the physical vicinity of the patients to avoid risks of contagion spread. Moreover, people with dwindling immunity are also at risk of coming in contact with people. Thankfully, this major hiccup for healthcare is easily avoidable using video conferencing by becoming the go-to tool for bringing family members to the patient’s room virtually. In fact, as a part of COVID protocols by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), video-conferencing has been recognized as an effective communication method effective in increasing social distancing while reducing potential infection concerns.
- Prescreening: Flu is a very contagious disease, and patients with flu symptoms are a serious threat to others if they need to be brought to the hospital. During the pandemic, this was highly effective at keeping potential COVID patients out of crowded waiting rooms and away from other patients.
- Providing low-risk virtual urgent care: For providing urgent care for anything from a sprained back to nausea and vomiting, video conferencing is fast becoming the popular choice. By electronically triaging the patient’s symptoms, the goal was to keep individuals out of the ER and the waiting room at the doctor’s office. The doctor might then make the referral or arrange the appointment if additional therapy involving a patient encounter or an x-ray was required.
- Offering virtual counseling: providing online therapy for mental and behavioral health and advice on diet and weight control. This was especially crucial since, as COVID drew on, we felt more alone.
- Monitoring chronic illnesses: Chronic conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes require ongoing monitoring. This is crucial since four out of ten American individuals have several chronic illnesses that need ongoing monitoring and care, and six out of ten American adults have a chronic condition.
- Better Accessibility: Video conferencing is essential in providing case management for patients with a limited range of motion or those who reside in remote areas.
- Post-discharge patient follow-ups: After the operation or hospital stay, several procedures necessitate routine examinations or other forms of patient monitoring. Video conferencing may be used to monitor distant patients and may even prevent them from needing to be readmitted to the hospital after being discharged.
- Offering directives to families: It provides patients and their families with preparation for advance care directives or counseling to record their wishes for end-of-life care
- Providing a bedside doctor’s visit to a nursing home or an assisted living residence without putting the patient or doctor at risk of spreading COVID. Even after COVID, medical video conferencing can assist long-term care patients in this way.
- Offering peer-to-peer education and staff training: For providing outpatient or inpatient consultations, peer-to-peer teaching to residents and other healthcare professionals is vital. Students can receive nursing treatment in classrooms by using video conferencing. Inmates can receive telehealth services from it in jails. When a workplace safety crisis necessitates immediate medical attention, medical video conferencing can be employed in enterprises and has been used in this situation.
Wrapping Up
When it comes to saving lives and money as well, Video conferencing can be really beneficial. However, it is important to avail custom hospital video conferencing solution from a trusted VoIP development company. Vindaloo Softtech is a well-known VoIP software development and service provider with 6+ years of experience in creating customized solutions for their clients. Get in touch.
