The Covid-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the trend of remote real-time communication between doctors and patients. Needing to curtail the spread of the virus, healthcare professionals relied on the use of chat messaging and video chat to keep patients away from waiting rooms and doctor's surgeries, while still being able to treat them. A report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that, compared with 2019, telehealth visits increased by more than 3000% by October 2020.
But even two years after the height of the pandemic, healthcare organizations are still committed to utilizing this technology. Today it remains commonplace for patients to have video consultations with doctors. Digital communication in healthcare carries a host of additional benefits not least of which are cost-savings and convenience.
Healthcare professionals are discovering that in addition to patient-doctor consultations, digital communication has a much broader application and is now used in a variety of healthcare use cases including pre-and post surgery care, home monitoring, online counseling, chronic illness management, and to facilitate online community support groups.
What is remote real-time communication?
Real-time chat in doctor-patient communication, which is commonly referred to as telemedicine or telehealth, has become a technology routinely used by modern healthcare systems. As a simple definition, telehealth is the use of telecommunication technology to provide therapeutic support to patients. Doctors can examine, diagnose, and confer with patients without leaving their clinics or homes. Communication through a telemedicine chat app can involve audio calls, text messaging, and more often, video chat.
Benefits of using real-time chat/ telehealth:
So why does telehealth continue to gain in popularity even as the Covid-19 pandemic begins to subside? Clearly its benefits outlive the exigencies of the pandemic.
Convenience
Without doubt the ability to communicate remotely without the need for in-person visits creates ease and convenience for both patients and doctors. For a patient who lives in a remote rural area, or who is too unwell to travel, the ability to consult with a doctor via a video call or HIPAA compliant chat is extremely helpful. It also means doctors can provide healthcare to everyone regardless of how immobile they are.
Enhanced patient satisfaction
The benefits of a sound 'bedside manner' are well documented. The warm, caring attitude of a doctor has a direct and positive impact on a patient's well-being. Real-time communication facilitates responsive and personal contact between individuals and their doctor. Through video calling doctors can hold eye contact with their patients, and show care and concern through their facial expression and voice tone. They can provide prompt responses and clarification, reassuring patients that they understand their ailments and are here to help. Overall, real-time communication can be immensely satisfying for patients, promoting good health outcomes.
Increased staff productivity
Remote communication has additional benefits for doctors. Waiting for patients who fail to turn up to appointments or having to travel to other departments or clinics to consult is time consuming. When these activities can be done from the convenience of their own office/clinic via electronic means, healthcare professionals save time and have more productive work days.
Enhanced efficiency
HIPAA compliant telehealth apps like Q-Consultation can be embedded into existing healthcare EHR systems making workflows smooth and seamless. Information captured during a video chat including online forms, note-taking, and chat history can be synced. A digitally captured and preserved message, or recorded video consultation can be shared with other doctors for educational or auditing purposes. For all these reasons, and more, digital communication enhances efficiency.
Access to Various Specializations
Certain patients who need the treatment of a specialist are required to travel significant distances and spend time preparing for each appointment. Through the use of a video chat API, patients and their primary care physician can benefit from the knowledge and experience of experts in other locations. When it comes to significant health concerns, you want to speak with the very best, not the one who is geographically nearest to you.
After-Care Monitoring
Remote-real time communication is an effective and cost-efficient way to provide on-going care and at-home monitoring. A growing number of health providers are recognizing the advantages of using instant chat messaging and video calling to provide post-surgery care, supporting pain management, and tracking recovery. Other professionals use real-time communication to help patients with on-going management of chronic illnesses like diabetes and heart disease. Real-time chat also means patients and their families have easy access to online support groups, where they can share experiences.
Conclusion:
Even when the current pandemic is well and truly over, remote digital communication will remain a fixed and expanding feature of modern healthcare.
QuickBlox, with chat and video calling SDKs and APIs, and embeddable telehealth solutions enables the ability of doctors and patients to communicate and talk to each other in real-time. With these solutions, you can add real-time communication features like an instant messaging app, video chat app, and group video calls to any app.