Telemedicine in hospitals is now the wave of the future when it comes to healthcare technology, and it’s here for the duration.

Coronavirus has opened up telehealth like nothing before in terms of immediate patients care from anywhere at any time.

With the global pandemic, protecting staff has equal importance to patient health. If our healthcare workers are unable to work, patient care deteriorates. Care Teams and Clinicians suffer greater rates of burnout and depression, and a provider’s ability to maintain their quality of care comes under threat. For patients and care teams, telemedicine is an organic move into the world of videoconferencing for patient care.  It’s a paradigm shift away from traditional in-office visits and providers trying to schedule appointments while juggling rounds and patient follow-up.

Emily Sokol, MPH, writing in mHealthIntelligence, says, “The coronavirus pandemic sparked the growth of telehealth across the healthcare industry. This growth will continue after the pandemic, industry experts said at the Value-Based Care Summit | Telehealth20: Virtual Series. ” She continues, “Stay-at-home orders meant many patients were not seeking care on-site. So organizations needed to adjust their practices if patients were going to continue receiving care safely. Telehealth was the obvious solution. Unsurprisingly, 91 percent of conference attendees said the role of telehealth had increased at their organization since March 2020. And over two-thirds (68 percent) were explicitly motivated to participate in telehealth programs because of the coronavirus.”

The Right Care with Telemedicine in Hospitals

Telemedicine in hospitals can lessen the workload for already-overstretched Nurses, Doctors and Care Teams.

As you consider services for your healthcare offering, consider HCI’s Telemedicine module, available through MediaCare, our enterprise-wide integrated software platform over our Interactive Patient Care Whiteboards. MediaCare interactive modules like Telemedicine are scalable and flexible, offering a high return on investment. CleanCall is another advancement in Telemedicine that keeps both patients and staff safe. Add to that the COVID-19 Module, which clearly display patient vitals and rounding, to offer an integrated loop of patient care and clinical decision support.

What are the benefits?

How can you incorporate telemedicine into your healthcare service offerings? It’s clear that even after the pandemic, telehealth is a technology tool for healthcare providers that’s here to stay. Telemedicine visits offer:

• A high level of convenience for Patients and Providers
• Safety for patients and providers, with no or limited contact
• A vehicle for clinical decision support with video consultations and meetings
• Reduced or eliminated travel for patients who may have ambulatory concerns and/or transportation issues
• Reduced complications with scheduling and eliminating waiting room wait times
• Keeps patients and staff safe, but still connected on a personal level
• Reduced staff burnout and to them safer from infection risks
• Additional billing revenue and lower operating costs