John Reiley
The healthcare industry is benefiting from technology. One of the biggest benefits is from video conferencing technologies. There are several reasons for this.
Video conferencing tools have revolutionized many industries over the past couple of decades. This includes mining industries, fast food franchises, and multi-billion dollar businesses. However, one of the industries that’s benefited the most is the healthcare sector. In fact, video calls are widely used because they offer a powerful way of communicating and collaborating. Patients, doctors, and the healthcare institution can all benefit in various ways.
Time and Money Saving
When you’re in the midst of a life or death situation, timing is everything. With video conferencing, you can view tests and biopsy results quickly. This allows you to be more effective when you’re making a diagnosis, especially when you think you need a specialist who can’t arrive in a timely manner. Sometimes your patient’s life will depend on this. At other times it’s simply a nice way of offering outpatient care until you can see the patient in person.
Regardless of how you’re using this technology, the fact remains: You’re saving time and money that’s involved with traveling. This is actually quite expensive but in the past, it was unavoidable because doctors had to talk to their patients, observe their status, write prescriptions, and monitor their improvement. Today these things can also be done online, even when attention from medical specialists is needed.
Many patients actually benefit here because they can see these specialist’s sooner than in the past. Everyone knows these specialists typically have really busy schedules. However, when they’re invited into your healthcare facility in this way patients are being seen sooner. They’re also saving a lot of money while doing so.
You can clearly see how this is also cost-effective. This is something that you would welcome yourself, so it shouldn’t surprise you that your patients feel the same way. Many patients are actually pleasantly surprised when they receive a bill that’s much less than they’d expected simply because video conferencing was used.
Reach out and Help More People
Now that you’re saving your patients time and money, you have plenty of time to see more patients. In fact, HC Services says that you’ll even have time to do philanthropic work and take care of patients in remote jungles if you want to do so. In this way, video conferencing has become an invaluable tool for these people’s lives and well-being. Of course, you can also have a local reach by using this tool too.
You don’t have to work in remote jungles. Sometimes your own patients need to see a specialist without waiting weeks to do so. There may even be a time when the specialist you want them to see isn’t local to you and your patient. Obviously, distance is no longer an obstacle here either. You can bring in a doctor from any place for them as well. Even if you’re performing a surgery or other type of treatment that’s based on their recommendation, you can have them there virtually throughout it.
Patients appreciate knowing that they have an expert on hand – even if they simply need a timely diagnosis from the comfort of their own home. There are people whose lives are too busy and those who live without easy, consistent access to transportation even in America today. It’s nice for them to know that they no longer have to live in “fear” of an emergency.
Of course, specialists really “enjoy” using this technology too. They appreciate the fact that they’re able to reach out and help more patients.
Improve Your Training for Your Patients’ Sake
Medical professionals are also appreciating the benefit of this technology in another way: They can now further their training without leaving their office or adversely affecting their schedule. EZ Talks says this is one of the best ways of creating a harmonious, healthy, reliable relationship between doctors and patients today. This is a great way for a doctor to get a competitive advantage today without leaving their office or putting treatment aside temporarily.
Thanks to video conferencing doctors can gather together online to learn and discuss new medical skills. As long as they have a computer or smartphone, training is available for them. Anyone who’s in attendance can also choose to record everything so it’s available for review later too.
All of this is having profound effects on how the role of viewing and emulating surgery is handled today as well. In the past, you’d have to put together an observation team who could attend the surgery and record the entire process for you. Unfortunately, there’s limited room available in the operating room. When too many people are there the room becomes polluted and something worse could occur. With recording the surgery you never know whether you get exactly what you need either.
None of this happens when you attend the surgery with video conferencing, though. You can now view and emulate the entire surgery without ever disturbing it. Throughout the surgery, you can also talk to the surgeon and get the specific instructions you need. All of this is thanks to the multiple online viewing capabilities that are available. In fact, there are as many as 500 different ones available to be exact.
All of these different viewing capabilities help to increase your results’ accuracy. What’s even better is that when groups of doctors work together in this way they can immediately deliberate and reach the best possible solution. This helps save resources and allows the best people in their fields to reach a definitive ‘real-time’ consensus on behalf of their patients. So, while these doctors are learning, they’re also saving their patients’ lives. This is even happening throughout the emulation of difficult surgeries today, which is great news for everyone who’s involved.
Clearly, video conferencing is a great help in the healthcare industry today in many ways. These are just a few of these ways that both patients and their doctors will benefit when it comes to health and social care. As this technology continues developing we’ll experience a growing number of benefits as well.
As an ex-registered nurse who left nursing in 1996, I knew that technology would come in handy for doctors and patients and even the nurses. Some hospital, I know, have bedside stations for nurses to record vital signs, write their nurses notes etc. This also can come in handy for the nurses as they do not have to get the patient’s chart, open it, get their pen ready and write long form. But at the risk of embracing technology in the health care system, we should not forget the human aspect of it, the reassuring of patient and their families, the soft touch you need to give them and of course all their nursing and doctor care.