Over the years patients wonder why the healthcare industry is lagging behind all the other industries and worldly innovations. Why can’t patients simply email the doctor to ask a question? Is meeting the doctor in person really important? However, since the past decade, patients and doctors are both becoming receptive towards the idea of telemedicine.
A recent research by Software Advice stated that 75 percent of respondents were interested in video conferencing. This unique method of providing healthcare provides many useful benefits to both patients and providers. When used correctly telemedicine can prove to be very profitable. The obvious benefits include increased doctors’ reach, reduced costs and convenience to patients.
Here, we’ll share some opportunities that healthcare care providers and patients can benefit from by implementing a telemedicine system that serves both the parties and help in delivering fast and direct services.
Connecting Patients and Providers in Unique Ways
Telemedicine is definitely the most revolutionary part of the healthcare industry, especially when we talk about patient experience enhancement. For patients who live in remote areas or far away from hospitals, telemedicine serves as a bridge between them to receive consultation, and treatment information from expert physicians who could be miles away.
Telemedicine also provides ease to new mothers, seniors, disabled, non-drivers and basically any group of people that might find traveling difficult to receive quality healthcare services.
Increased Revenue Stream
Due to the ease of receiving health benefits, telemedicine may attract new patients and serve as an encouragement for existing patients to seek treatment more frequently.
Providers and doctors can benefit by billing patients for virtual appointments or phone calls that take less time as compared to regular visits while providing a direct link with the patients without occupying space in an examination room.
Enhanced Workforce
Most telemedicine programs help doctors identify the real cause for the patient calling in, so they can accurately prioritize and disseminate resources, treatment, and recommendation. The staff that receives calls can forward the request to the right physician, specialist or nurse. This helps them save time and doctors don’t have to stay on duty all the time.
Investing in a telemedicine/telehealth platform is a great way for providers to expand their services, revenue, and patient satisfaction.
Less Outpatient Centers and Expenses
Introducing telemedicine into your hospitals or clinics creates a great opportunity for providers to cut back on real estate costs that are incurred in running the business and reducing the outpatient’s centers if your office is located in more than one location. Many telemedicine providers also include virtual patient admission, appointments, scheduling, and billing, allowing them to save money on support staff that would generally fuss with the paperwork for most of the time.
Regular clinics occupy certain space to address the needs of their patients they receive on daily basis. Telemedicine and virtual checkups will reduce the number of patients visiting daily to the clinic, simultaneously reducing the cost of medical equipment’s. This facility will also allow consultants, doctors, and specialists to work from home even during the late hours.
Increased Patient Satisfaction
Studies suggest that patient’s search for their doctors online before stepping foot in their clinics. With the help of telemedicine services, providers can help improve patient satisfaction by delivering shorter waiting time and easy access to care.
A research conducted at Harvard reveals that each doctor visit takes up to 121 minutes of a respondent’s time out of which only 20 minutes are spent with the physician.
It is a fact that the healthcare industry lacks expert health services providers. Most of the hospitals and clinics are either lacking the medical staff or necessary equipment.
By offering medical consultancy online, medical centers can provide access to care without dealing with a room full of desperate patients. In this case, telemedicine can deliver services to patients in rural areas, and far from medical facilities. Additionally, patients can also benefit through telemedicine by reaching out to physicians living across the country.
Conclusion
Telemedicine will take a long time to replace inpatient treatment and regular hospital visits, but this unique idea is already improving the lifestyle of patients and their access to convenient healthcare. Not only patients, but it is also helping providers and hospitals treat millions of patients while saving costs.
Implement telemedicine facilities offered by telehealth company at your center and reap the benefits of increased patient satisfaction, efficiency, and wide geographic reach today.
