Last Updated | November 15, 2021
The medical is evolving fast, and technology is playing a colossal role in transforming the healthcare industry. Ranging from doctors looking for better strategies for treatment to embracing technology, telemedicine and telehealth are two technologies at the forefront of the dynamic shift in the medical industry. It’s safe to say that technology has brought various advancements in the fields, offering easy access to medical information and services.
Still, why medical software is used in hospitals is a million-dollar question. With the popularity of personalized services and insights, why wouldn’t hospitals want a component that makes healthcare connected, convenient, and personalized? These medical software solutions promise seamless exchange of data and information through electronic communication standards, hence enabling healthcare facilities to offer improved patient treatment. In this blog, we will be looking at the use of technology including telemedicine in the healthcare industry and what the technology brings for the medical industry.
Why Is Telemedicine Technology Important In Hospitals?
- Protection of Patients & Personnel
The demand for healthcare services is surging. However, the traditional healthcare system has proven incapable to deal with the higher demand for healthcare services. In this situation, telemedicine has risen as an efficient and effective technology that can fill in the demand & supply gap for healthcare services. However, the security and safety of protected health information (PHI) on these technology platforms have remained a debatable question. Nonetheless, in recent years the technology has progressed greatly, and with strict compliance regulations like HIPAA already in effect, telemedicine offers patients, and healthcare facilities a reliable, and secure solution to tackle the surging demand for healthcare services.
- Remote Report Reading
The recent pandemic has changed the way how radiologists work since work-from-home has become the ultimate norm. That being said, with telemedicine technology, radiologists can remotely read the reports; it’s a great benefit to international and rural patients. This will bring a sea of change in the medical field since the adoption of telemedicine technology is becoming more universal.
- Improved Healthcare Access
In particular, this benefit is aiding hospitals in providing healthcare services and treatment to the senior communities. This is because telemedicine boosts convenience while improving care management and disease management. In addition, it will reduce the hospitalization rates for the senior communities as they will benefit from the expansion of telehealth and telemedicine technology.
- Conservation Of Bed Space & Supplies
With the implementation of telemedicine technology, the demand for hospital beds and supplies has decreased. This is because it limits patients to their homes (while receiving healthcare treatment, of course). It eventually makes sure that the medical systems of the hospitals aren’t overwhelmed. Besides, telemedicine technology will aid with better healthcare delivery.
Telemedicine Medical Software Used In Hospitals
- Mend
With the constant surge in implementation of telemedicine medical software, hospitals have started using predesigned software solutions. That being said, Mend is one of the most widely implemented software solutions. Mend is the telemedicine suite that not only brings profitability but efficiency as well. With Mend, the users can add online forms, self-scheduling, and appointment reminders.
Above all, it has video calling and voice calling features, along with automated processes for higher productivity and workflow. With the drag-and-drop feature, using online forms has become easier than ever before. Also, it has the survey feature, so hospitals can assess the shortfalls in clinical practices.
- Doxy Me
Doxy Me is a secure and simple telemedicine software that can be used on any browser. The best part is that it doesn’t need to be configured and is extremely easy to use. It can be integrated with practice management or electronic health records software. It has voice calling, video calling, and unlimited messaging features for easy communication.
- AMC Health
It is the advanced telemedicine software that is designed for coordinating health monitoring and care services. AMC Health complies with FDA medical devices. It can be used for tracking purposes. Also, Bluetooth connectivity promises better operations of the devices; it also streamlines biometric data sharing. With the dashboard summary, the patients’ treatments can be personalized.
- swyMed
This telemedicine software is designed for paramedicine programs, health monitoring, emergency response, and hospital monitoring. This program is integrated with video communication. With the Mobile Integrated Healthcare; data and information delivery will be quick in case of emergency situations. Above all, it promises streamlined performance even with limited bandwidth.
How Much Does It Cost To Start Telemedicine Implementation In Hospitals?
“how much does it cost to implement telemedicine?” is the first question hospitals and healthcare providers ask when they have to implement this technology. For the most part, the final cost includes the telemedicine software cost and telemedicine platform pricing. According to the research, the average cost of telemedicine software development is around $370k.
However, these costs can increase with the integration of advanced features, and marketing costs are even higher. The cost of telemedicine implementation will vary with the integration of features, medical devices, licensing, hire healthcare mobile app developers, videoconferencing mediums, equipment, staff training, and support services. However, it’s a high-return market with massive potential for investors. According to some estimates, the telemedicine industry may become a $175 billion industry by the year 2026.
How To Build A Telemedicine System For Hospital?
Medical software used in hospitals is created through a software development lifecycle. In this section, we are outlining different phases of the telemedicine software and system development, such as;
- Business Analysis
In starting a telemedicine business, where analytics are used for identifying the idea and transforming it into a practical plan. Generally, a plan is used for creating a foundation for the app. Contrary to usual belief, this is an essential stage since it also analyzes the competitors and market for creating the system blueprints.
- Designing
The practical plan is used by the designers to create an appealing interface that’s simple and effective for patients and healthcare providers.
- Development
After the completion of design, software development is the execution phase with which software goes into the creation phase. This is a delicate stage, but with a good foundation and promising plan, the telemedicine app development may become time-efficient.
- Maintenance & Support
Once the telemedicine software development is complete, it has to be regularly updated so the productivity and reliability aren’t compromised.
How Does Telemedicine Save Money In Hospitals?
Since the very beginning of the technology, healthcare providers and hospitals have been considering telemedicine cost-effectiveness ad how it helps save money. Below, we are shedding light on how telemedicine can help save money.
- Practice
Whenever patients require healthcare services, provision of treatment is essential. However, the need for immediate care or treatment might be out of office hours and a practice schedule. That being said, telemedicine ensures that no unnecessary visits are made to the hospitals and doesn’t overwhelm the already overwhelmed resources.
- Time Optimization
With telemedicine, the patients can reduce the no-show instances since the technology offers a convenient way of consulting doctors remotely. Also, the missed appointments can be replaced with eVisits, so patients can get healthcare services on flexible schedules.
- Improvement In Compliance
Healthcare is a highly regulated industry with various federal and state laws regulating the practice. Any deviation/non-compliance to the regulations may lead to massive penalties and fines for healthcare practitioners, or facilities. In this regard, telemedicine software offers the industry a safe and compliant practice environment. Most of the telemedicine platforms come with complete compliance to the medical regulations, thus ensuring that doctors/physicians or hospitals avoid falling for hefty penalties.
- Overhead Cost Saving
Telemedicine helps cut down on the practice hours, which means hospitals can save money since the majority of healthcare providers are paid on an hourly basis. In addition, the short working hours enable doctors, and other healthcare workers with the much-needed recovery time to offer compassionate and credible healthcare services. The implementation of telemedicine also saves on associated costs like utilities.
How Does Telemedicine Reduce Costs In Hospitals?
The implementation of telemedicine reduces re-admissions in hospitals while reducing the costs of treatment for various diseases. With remote analysis services, the technology enables to share and pool resources required to offer high-quality healthcare services, while keeping costs at a minimum. In addition, the transfer of MRI, CT scan, and X-Ray reports to international facilities will be much cheaper.
Secondly, telemedicine also provides remote monitoring technologies, so patients can be monitored on a regular basis. With Bluetooth-enabled medical services and devices, the vitals can be monitored, which leads to improved diagnosis. Even more, it offers proactive healthcare interferences.
Is Telemedicine Cost Effective For Hospitals?
While telemedicine has gained popularity in the healthcare industry, still stakeholders keep questioning if this new technology is cost-effective. According to the research, telemedicine promises cost-effectiveness since it also cuts out the commute and travel costs (the patients and doctors have to go back-and-forth for accessing and providing healthcare services, respectively).
As per the estimations, over the course of eighteen years, telemedicine has saved nine years of commute, $3 million in terms of cost, and five million miles. Similarly, the implementation of telemedicine helped reduce the CO2 emission since the commute was reduced.
How Is Telemedicine Used In Healthcare?
Telemedicine is suitable for different situations and conditions that don’t demand physical examinations or lab tests. Also, it offers ongoing care to the patients remotely. For instance, psychotherapy can be accessed through telemedicine. With the COVID-19 pandemic going on, patients can receive remote medical treatment. Even more, doctors can provide medicine prescriptions.
With higher and improved communication through telemedicine, it will result in better healthcare services. Similarly, it leads to better follow-ups for treatments and reduced re-admissions in the hospitals. Better communication also helps with high-end communication between the healthcare providers and patients, leading to the creation of support networks.
The Role of Integration Engine in Healthcare Industry
It is evident that the present healthcare system is highly fragmented. Large-scale healthcare facilities have to rely on multiple applications to manage different departments, which may be challenging and compromise the efficiency of the organizations. For this reason, healthcare organizations are integrating cloud-based apps and mobile devices to improve efficiency. However, this calls for web APIs to ensure seamless and consistent data exchange.
The integration engine can assist healthcare organizations in integrating web APIs, which is a method for securing the communication between different electronic devices for convenient communication. Also, the integration engines can be combined with healthcare workflows for supporting and delivering productive care to the patient base.
On top of everything, the healthcare integration engine can help healthcare providers monitor the interface’s status by capturing the data and providing every interface’s status to the staff. In addition, the information is on time and provides insights into healthcare systems for making essential changes to healthcare services.
These engines are intuitive, which means every healthcare provider can access the interface and troubleshoot the errors. In addition, it can ease resource allocation by keeping an eye on the status of different departments.
Conclusion: Benefits Of Telemedicine For Hospitals
Telemedicine has become an absolute savior in the medical fields, and hospitals can yield multiple benefits from the implementation of telemedicine. For instance, hospitals can earn additional revenue since more patients can be addressed through virtual platforms as compared to physical meetings. Along with this, telemedicine leads to a better reputation for hospitals since it ensures higher reliability.
With telemedicine, the HCAHPS scores will be increased, leading to lower penalties. It can also improve the staff productivity of hospitals. This is because healthcare providers hardly have spare time, so implementation of telemedicine leads to quick patient flow; hence doctors and other nursing staff get more free time to recover. Last but not least, it can also lead to virtual training for the staff.
FAQs
Why is medical technology important in the hospital?
With medical technologies, the health problems will have an accurate and proactive diagnosis. It leads to better treatment designing and outcomes. Above all, medical technologies help with remote monitoring of the patients’ health conditions.
How long does it take to implement telemedicine in the hospital?
The implementation of telemedicine in hospitals can take a variating period of time. On average, the telemedicine implementation can take around 120 days, but the timeframe might increase with more complicated features.
How many hospitals use telemedicine in the USA?
At this time, around 76% of the USA hospitals are using video and other technologies for remote and virtual practices. For instance, almost every state in the USA has some form of telehealth services.
What are the applications of telemedicine in hospitals?
Telemedicine is applicable for decision-making, collaborative treatment, and remote services. It can be used for the management of patients. In addition, it promises long-term patient care management and satisfaction. Even more, it’s suitable for assessing health data.
What are the medical UX design trends in telemedicine?
Some of the UX design trends in telemedicine include medical wearable, remote patient monitoring, personalized patient experience, VR, AR, and voice user interface.
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