Telehealth is a critical tool for all providers to address care coordination surge and expand access to virtual care. As providers manage the demands of existing patient care delivery, newly impacted patient triage and screening, and the safe assessment and introduction of new patients into their health systems, scale is hyper-critical. Read how Pacific Dental Services is leveraging telehealth to deliver seamless virtual care capabilities across its national network of dental practices.
The ability to meet unprecedented patient service demands across all provider settings will require secure, integrated collaboration platforms to support comprehensive virtual care workflows. To keep your staff and patients connected, we are offering healthcare providers RingCentral Office free of charge.
Developing telehealth services: key use cases
What are examples of telehealth? It is most often thought of as a video-first encounter; however, video collaboration is just one of many key capabilities. A comprehensive telehealth program includes other telephony and mobile health tools. So what makes telehealth successful, and what are the key benefits? To learn more, please watch this informative on-demand webinar.
As providers investigate technology solutions to develop telehealth programs, these 10 key use cases are critical to their utilization objectives and goals:
1. Virtual care appointments: reduced unnecessary hospitalizations
Video conferencing tools support the ability to scale patient capacity and safely support both at-home and in-facility patients.
2. Mobile health capabilities: improved data access
Mobile-ready telehealth apps enable dispersed teams to collaborate and exchange ePHI across messaging, voice, fax, and video channels.
3. Dedicated response teams: faster patient intake
Dynamic call routing capabilities enable specialized triage teams to provide advice for home-based care and assess potential inpatient care needs.
4. Remote workforce support: facility staff safety
Flexible telehealth platforms support the easy transition of facility-based staff to interim, work-from-home status during times of crisis.
5. Temporary treatment sites: health service continuity
Pre-staged and configured communications and collaboration systems can be efficiently deployed to ad-hoc treatment locations.
6. Fluctuating call volumes: shorter wait times
Dynamic overflow of calls across ambulatory sites will optimize staff dedicated to patient-provider communication and reduce abandoned calls.
7. Patient follow-ups: faster patient response
Voicemails that can be transcribed and read will enable faster patient callbacks and assessment turn-around times.
8. Telehealth system monitoring: instant performance analysis
Customized dashboards provide a complete view of the system-wide quality of service and troubleshooting insights.
9. Secure ePHI exchange: strong security compliance
Third-party security certification (e.g., HITRUST CSF) ensures that ePHI exchanges across telehealth channels—voice, video, messaging, and fax—is supported by a robust security risk management framework.
10. Patient self-service: positive patient experience
Multi-level IVR tools enable providers to automate patient access to up-to-date information or recorded FAQ responses.
As providers continue their virtual patient engagement planning and crisis response measures, the integrated telehealth solutions and capabilities that have been described will play a critical role. Telehealth will enable providers to implement alternate systems of care that combine phone and web-based engagement with in-person care. It will also support their need to rapidly acquire, repurpose, and stage alternative patient care delivery sites with equally rapid technology intervention. Read more about the new FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Program and available provider funding.
Originally published Jun 29, 2020, updated Aug 08, 2024
