In this pandemic year, it was possible to notice the importance of technology not only in everyday life and for personal use, but in the professional scope and mainly in health. COVID-19 has made telemedicine commonplace and a vital tool in combating the spread of the virus.
On our blog on the future of telemedicine, we present the advantages and changes that have taken place both for doctors and health professionals, as well as for patients, introduced by the need to continue medical treatment and care, with the least possible risk to other people, the patient and the medical team itself.
For telemedicine to occur without problems, it is necessary to consider some points that we are going to list here to help you provide an excellent service, even at a distance, for your patients.
Preparing a telemedicine service
Ninsaúde Apolo helps you with telemedicine even before patient care begins, with our online scheduling tools and confirmation via WhatsApp, where the patient can communicate with the clinic without leaving the comfort of their home.
With 97% of people using cell phones to send text messages, an easy and practical way out was to use this tool to communicate with patients and colleagues in the health area. With secure methods, this communication allows:
- Helps coordinate references;
- Provides real-time consultations with other professionals for a second opinion in difficult cases;
- Allows easy collaboration between patients, families, and pharmacies;
- Decreases the time employees and secretaries need to call patients;
- And there is the exchange of information before and aftercare with patients.
With Ninsaúde Apolo you can send an automatic email to patients to remind them of the appointment, or with instructions on what to expect about the online consultation. You can also advance your patient's check-in, sending them the registration form via email up to one day before the appointment, this way you speed up this important step of collecting general data, and with the patient responding, the chances of error are lower. To use the check-in tool, the patient needs to have an appointment and a valid email registered in their file, you can use that same email to remind the patient of the appointment.
Integrated video call
To communicate with their patients and initiate telehealth, the EHR Ninsaúde Apolo allows the doctor to connect from anywhere as long as they have access to the internet and a device with an internet browser. Within Ninsaúde Apolo, the video call is already integrated with medical care, being easily accessible for both the professional and the patient who will receive a link to connect. Among the main advantages, we can mention:
- Extremely easy to use;
- No need to download apps;
- Provides a safe environment for medical care that follows the rules of the HIPAA;
- Provides comfort and convenience.
Telemedicine also allows you, the doctor, to create documents and take screenshots (print screen) and save them in your patient's files. As soon as the doctor starts the service, he must send the link to the patient's WhatsApp or email so that he can connect to the video call, to make this contact, just give one click.
On the patient's side, he will receive a message instructing him to click on the link and start the video call, he must agree to the terms and conditions, which explain some details regarding the safety of the medical care video call, and as soon as the patient confirms, care begins.
Once the call is over, the doctor has the option to actually end the attendance and finish the medical record, or he can continue in the service and make final notes on the patient's evolution, add ICDs, print documents, or save to send to the patient, add allergies, immunizations and using the "note" button he can save reminders for future patient care.
Permanently Adopting Telemedicine
Telemedicine is a great solution for various types of medical care and specialties, but it does not work completely in all cases, like care that requires certain types of examinations and tests, and some forms of emergency care. In addition, some services may not yet be covered by health plans in the form of telemedicine, and this can end up limiting care for your patient.
And, despite the COVID-19 pandemic being somewhat under control in the world, telemedicine is here to stay. Without it, healthcare professionals would not be able to connect as quickly and conveniently with their patients.
This is especially true for patients in immunocompromised situations and patients with difficulties in accessing medical care and treatment. And anyway it is advantageous to offer services through telemedicine to patients just because it is more comfortable and comfortable for the patient if he agrees, saving the patient from unnecessary expenses.
Implementing telemedicine in a clinic may seem complicated at first, but Ninsaúde Apolo Software does it all in just two clicks. With the pandemic, it was necessary to think of new ways to accompany and monitor patients undergoing treatments or who required some kind of extra care, and continuing as an extension of telemedicine, we have remote patient monitoring - RPM, starting to grow.
Bearing in mind that telemedicine, as well as remote monitoring of the patient's vital signs, helps with agility and complete and accurate access to patient information, monitoring in real-time. Both telemedicine and electronic medical records need to maintain safety, effectiveness, time of care, and treatments, in a correct and patient-centered way.
With an electronic medical record that is integrated with telemedicine, as is the case with Ninsaúde Apolo Software, it is possible to deliver better care to patients, delivering a better results for them. This is because once the doctor has faster and more practical access to patient information, they can make decisions faster and more accurately.
Telemedicine also helps in the preventive care of diseases, since it is possible to deliver preventive care wherever and whenever the patient is or wants. In addition to that telemedicine also improves communication between the patient's doctors if he has more than one.
Keep following the blog for more content like this. Are you a healthcare professional but still don't use management software for your clinic or office? Meet Ninsaúde Apolo.