Healthcare IT that Works
Healthcare tech trends seem to appear overnight. Most disappear just as quickly. It’s understandable: most smaller practices simply can’t afford the time and money it takes to implement new technology, let alone learn how to use it well enough to make the investment worthwhile. These same stumbling blocks prevent small- and medium-sized businesses from successfully leveraging business technology. In fact, for most businesses as well as healthcare practices, it’s not until new technology is adopted by bigger, enterprise-level peers that they decide it’s time to pursue it themselves. By that point, these practices are only playing catch-up, rather than acting as leaders in their sector. But what if we told you there is a tech tool that already exists and that you probably already have access to, that you can easily use in your practice to help improve your patient experience?
Seeing is Believing
Nationwide, only 2% of doctors are engaging with their patients via video. Video technology has the ability to free doctors and patients from the constraints of time and distance. Think of video calls with patients as the house calls of the 21st century. In fact, across multiple patient satisfaction surveys, patients were 10% more satisfied with doctors who used video to address their problems. Traditionally, not much emphasis is placed on patient time and convenience. With video calls,the savings for patients are enormous. Gone is the need to miss work or school, as well as the associated cost of travel. Beyond cost-saving measures, video calls allow doctors to transfer their expertise across long distances, bringing specialized care to patients who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to travel for it.
Too often technology is seen as cold and impersonal. But that doesn’t have to be the case. Video calls with patients are faster, more convenient, and lower in cost than traditional models. Plus, the technology already exists and is easily accessible for practice owners! Two challenges remain: restructuring how healthcare is delivered, and changing payment systems to capture the value created.