Telehealth is Revolutionizing Modern Healthcare
In order to provide patients with the best of both in-person and remote care, an increasing number of healthcare practices are attempting to make the switch to hybrid healthcare. It is necessary for practitioners to establish a telehealth platform prior to introducing their new hybrid approach.
We’ve outlined the nine most important characteristics to consider in a telehealth platform to assist practitioners in navigating their options. You’ve struck gold if you discover one that has them all. Keep checking back; we might have the answer. All you have to do to get your prescriptions filled at NextClinic is visit their website, locate your drug, finish their health evaluation, and schedule an appointment with a physician.
Quick, On-Site Assistance With Minimal Use
You should choose a telemedicine platform that is supported by the individuals who created it, and you should be able to get their assistance right away if you need it. When attempting to connect with a patient who is waiting on the other end of the virtual visit, a support response that takes a few seconds longer is ineffective. Proactive support features like connection testing, appointment reminders, and live assistance for patients, staff, and clinicians are essential for the finest telehealth platforms.
Simple appointment booking
Since the primary goal of telehealth platforms is to facilitate the easy connection between patients and healthcare providers, a straightforward method of scheduling appointments is at its core. The following are some crucial elements for this feature:
- Provide a functionality that allows both parties to get follow-up communications in advance to confirm availability. Both parties will be able to communicate during the appointment scheduling process thanks to an integrated messaging system.
- To avoid misunderstandings or scheduling mistakes, appointments can be shown and scheduled in the patient’s local time zone.
Integration of Electronic Health Records (EHR)
An efficient telemedicine platform should be able to connect with existing Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems with ease. This integration provides physicians with access to a patient’s complete medical history, previous diagnoses, test results, and current treatment plans during a telemedicine session.
In addition to EHR integration, telemedicine solutions should include real-time communication of medical documents, including prescriptions and test results. Because everything can be done digitally through the telemedicine platform, this feature reduces the need for follow-up appointments and in-person visits.
Reminders for medications
To encourage medical adherence, voice calls and alerts can be programmed to notify patients when their prescriptions are past due. Medication adherence is a critical component of recovery and treatment effectiveness, and the patient bears the majority of this obligation. Because telehealth allows healthcare practitioners to be more proactive in the process and gives patients access to the tools they need to manage and record their prescription schedule, it has been shown to help improve medication-taking behavior.
Resources: Educating patients to empower them
A 2022 MedCity news article claims that contemporary patients are demanding greater control and information about their treatment. This includes appreciating knowledge on preventative medicine and wanting to comprehend the care being provided to them. This is supported by a Wolters Kluwer study on patient expectations for educational materials, which shows that over 80% of patients ask questions after a medical encounter. To promote contemporary healthcare practices, NextClinic is a rapidly expanding healthcare organization.
Surveys of symptoms
Real-time information on the patient’s symptoms, particularly those associated with mental health or other comorbidities, is provided by daily symptom surveys. Surveys of symptoms are crucial for monitoring the state of a condition and the pace of healing. Symptom surveys can help provide a comprehensive assessment of the patient’s condition and disease state when combined with these other essential telehealth elements.
Security: Increasing healthcare platforms’ credibility
HIPAA and numerous other new and upcoming privacy regulations should be sufficient to highlight the importance of security in telehealth, but headlines have made customers cautious. Developers must be aware that one of the most sensitive types of user data is health information. If a solution can show that it is attempting to secure patient data, it will differentiate itself from the competition among telehealth providers.
Personalization and Expandability
A good telemedicine platform must be scalable and customizable to accommodate patients’ and healthcare providers’ evolving needs. Whether that means adding new features, supporting more users, or integrating with other health systems, the platform should be able to expand along with the business.
Whether it’s branding, specific communication features, or specialist referral online services, healthcare providers can alter the platform to suit their own needs. Over time, a platform that can adapt to evolving needs will affect the healthcare practitioner’s ability to deliver high-quality care.
Electronic Prescription Drugs
Traditionally, even for recurring prescriptions, patients must physically visit their clinician to obtain a refill. Using telehealth services eliminates the need for this difficult and tiresome process. After a patient has a virtual consultation with their provider, the software makes it easy for doctors to prescribe medication. This expedites the prescription procedure, guaranteeing that patients receive the medication they require without difficulty or delay.