From the August 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
The net win for physicians is that they will gain a patient-friendly avenue for frequent monitoring of patient progress, thus strengthening the physician-patient relationship. They also will keep a competitive advantage for new patients as they are demanding this capability when choosing their health care providers.
Get it right the first time
Virtual health will transform the way health systems and health care professionals operate. Virtual health is not about the technology. Good health care will always have its basis in communication, between the patient and the health care provider, and within the health care team. While the technology is the conduit for the practice of telemedicine, even the best of technologies will not alleviate poor clinical communication and process. Health care providers must stress the need for fully vetted clinical practice protocols, guidelines and workflows in order to implement optimal telemedicine programs.
Seamless telemedicine integration can only occur when there exists an overarching understanding of clinical operations and regulations that goes far beyond simply knowing how the technology works. Many industry technology vendors lack clinicians on their teams to help with the initial build. If they do have clinicians onboard, they are often in senior executive roles such as a CMO and are rarely part of the implementation. Thus, these vendors often lack system operations and regulatory knowledge to ensure a successful implementation and effective telemedicine program.
Take patient documentation, for example. Practitioners must keep thorough records of telemedicine visits, as they would if the patient were in the office. If interoperability between EMRs and telemedicine software or defined data communications workflows are not set up correctly from the beginning, key requirements such as reimbursement, audit and legal standpoints could be missed. Patient care can also be compromised if communication between the remote clinician and the on-site team is not fully scrutinized.
About the author:
Dan Watterson has 25 years of health care and health care IT implementation experience, with the most recent 15 years focused in telemedicine. With a background in critical care nursing and certification in project management, he brings clinical, technical and project management expertise to the North Highland Telemedicine practice.Back to HCB News
