Benefits of Telehealth and Mobile Healthcare Services
The impact of COVID-19 allowed for technology to drive healthcare solutions in a field that has historically been reluctant to change. Over the past few years, we have seen virtually all areas of medicine rely in some capacity on innovative technology solutions to best serve patients amid a global pandemic. Many of these emergency solutions are here to stay and furthermore, have opened the doors for newer interventions to have the opportunity to succeed.
Impact of Telehealth
Telehealth refers to the delivery of health care, health education, and health information services via the use of technological strategies. These platforms can include telecommunication and digital communication technologies, live audio and video conferencing, mobile health apps, electronic transmission, and remote patient monitoring technologies.
Areas of high impact for telehealth services:
- Specialty care: Provides access to specialty services potentially not available at less-resourced hospitals
- Education and training: New educational models that engage and educate patients
- Patient engagement: Patients are able to have a more interactive approach and control in their healthcare
- Point of care testing: Telehealth allows for the integration of remote healthcare that can provide needed services at the point of care
- Remote patient monitoring: Patient health information can be managed from the home setting to follow and provide proper guidance in emergency situations
- Clinical research: Assessment and management of patient health during a clinical trial evaluation of a new medical product
- Real-time access: Both patients and providers can use platforms designed for specific healthcare service needs that allow for up-to-date information sharing on healthcare testing and results.
- Device integration: New digital applications, which are downloadable to smart devices, allow for specific device integration for tracking behavior, symptoms or other types of health data.
- Cloud platforms: Cloud computing offers a scalable, cost-effective, and interconnected rocess for the storage and sharing of healthcare data.
- Artificial intelligence (AI): AI initiatives have the ability to revolutionize the way patients are diagnosed and treated through complex analytics and continuously updating algorithms.
Mobile Healthcare Services Improves Patient Access
- No Commute
- Real- time updates
- Flexible Scheduling
Many patients require continuous healthcare services that involve cumbersome visits to the hospital or in-clinic setting. These may include routine testing and diagnostic needs. An evaluation of healthcare services that can be remotely managed has many advantages. Outsourcing routine testing (e.g., blood draws) and diagnostics frees up clinic space, time and staffing requirements. Patients who are unable to commute, have long commutes, or limited financing for travel benefit from having these services come to them. Mobile healthcare services enable qualified providers to remotely perform necessary services. These can virtually be performed at any location, including the patient’s home. This may be especially important for patients who are physically limits, at risk or immunocompromised. Mobile healthcare services improve accessibility to blood draws and health assessments, remove the need for organized transportation and associated costs and provide elevated privacy and safety for testing.
Mobile healthcare services are largely flexible and adaptable, meaning that they can be integrated into most practices and patient service needs. Mobile healthcare also has positive reach into clinical trial research allowing for better oversight on patient health management and routine testing that can be conducted without the participant having to go into the clinic. This promotes better data collection integrity and reduces protocol deviations.
For more information on telehealth and mobile healthcare services, check out myOnsite Healthcare