Demand for telemedicine solutions has risen remarkably in 2020 due to the increased need for remote care and digitized patient communication. More and more hospitals have started digitizing patient experience and automating work with telemedicine/telehealth solutions.
For that reason, we have decided to provide a checklist for hospitals/and care providers of what they should consider when comparing different telemedicine solutions to help them streamline surgery departments' care processes.
1. How easily can end-users (patients) adapt to the telemedicine solution?
Patient experience is very important to consider if the patients are also users of the telemedicine solution. If patients abandon your hospital’s chosen telemedicine platform you might not get the full benefit out of it
We recommend you check telemedicine solution providers not only for other hospitals’ feedback but also for patients’ experience. If you, for example, offer a mobile app to patients and they consider it difficult to use or don’t like it, they will stop using it.
2. Have healthcare professionals co-developed the telemedicine solution?
This is important to ask because it’s valuable to know if healthcare professionals were involved in the telemedicine solution creation process. Even if engineers are fantastic with the technology aspects, they might not be experts in healthcare and be able to understand the small important details about patient care paths or hospital processes.
We would advise you to check with your telemedicine solution provider to know how it was created.
3. What are ALL the features of the telemedicine solution?
When selecting a telemedicine platform make sure you understand all the tools and features available and the ones that may be missing. If you are purchasing a platform to optimize surgical care pathways, ask how the platform can support each stage of patient care. Some providers may offer solutions where patients are provided, for example, a mobile app, which supports and guides patients in surgery preparation and recovery. However, they might not provide a proper tool for care personnel to monitor, collect patient-reported outcome measures, generate reports, or interact appropriately with the patients. By choosing a telemedicine solution that can support your care team properly with all needed functionalities, your care unit will only have to purchase one telemedicine solution instead of three.
4. Is the telemedicine solution provider you are screening certified and safe?
This is crucial to verify that the telemedicine solution provider you are screening is certified and audited. When interacting with patients digitally, hospitals should consider if a telemedicine solution provider is, for example, GDPR compliant and HIPAA compliant. If operating in the EU, make sure that the provider’s CE marking is up-to-date.
5. Does the telemedicine solution's modularity allow other care units inside the hospital to use it as well?
When purchasing a telemedicine solution you should consider how modular/flexible the platform is. In other words, the flexibility of the technology determines if your hospital management or IT can scale the same solution to other medical specialties inside your hospital later on. Screening and implementing various solutions requires time from the IT, so it is very helpful for IT and hospital management if the solution is scalable.
About Buddy Healthcare
Buddy Healthcare is a mobile care coordination and patient engagement platform that ensures patients can easily navigate their care pathways at every stage and care personnel have a real-time, 360-degree view over all of their patients’ care pathways and activities.
The patient-facing mobile app gives patients 24/7 access to all the important care-related information they need and provides timely automated reminders and push notifications to keep patients on track. The BuddyCare dashboard allows care personnel to identify at-a-glance patients who have deviated from the expected care plan and to quickly intervene if necessary.
The BuddyCare solution also makes it easier to collect and analyse patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), and QoL questionnaires. Data submitted by patients is visualized and categorized in the dashboard for easy follow up. Patients and care personnel can easily interact through the platform if needed.
Healthcare providers are able to care for their patients remotely more efficiently and with greater ease through the certified and safe care coordination platform.
Buddy Healthcare is on a mission to transform care coordination in hospitals and clinics by making care accessible and measurable for everyone, everywhere, and anytime.
Would you like to know more about the BuddyCare Care Coordination Platform? We are happy to organize an online demo for you - book a demo time here or send us a message here.
