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Buyer's Guide for Telemedicine Software
Many health care providers are not able to connect with patients who need care due to distance, or transportation problems. With telemedicine services, you can use live video chat to connect with patients remotely. Just like a traditional exam, you will be able to physically examine them through conversation and answer questions or concerns. When appropriate, it allows you to provide treatment at a distance.
If your company focuses on clinical or pharmaceutical research, telemedicine can assist your data collection. It is particularly useful for longitudinal studies where you may wish to track patient outcomes over time. With at-home measurements collected by telemedicine, study participants find the process more convenient and it can be more cost-effective for the study facilitators.
Not all levels of telemedicine are effective for every practice, so it’s important to choose a platform that aligns with your patient needs. Systems can be tailored to all medical fields, including physical therapy, mental health services, and even optometry or dentistry. The simplest telemedicine systems are limited to communication devices which allow you to speak with and view a patient. Other telemedicine systems include mobile biometric devices that the patient can use at home to collect data on glucose levels, weight, or blood pressure. Both types of systems can allow you to increase your patient load at low cost, which will increase both your income and your impact on community health.
Here are five ways telemedicine can be implemented in your practice:
- Use a combination of biometric devices to record vital data and video conference to provide exam services to individual patients.
- Create clinics in remote or rural areas where larger scale medical care cannot be provided. Staff on site can work with the telemedical equipment while you contribute at a distance.
- At the scene of an emergency or in a crisis situation, ambulance kits can use telemedicine to get you to the places where care is most needed even if you cannot travel or patients cannot be removed.
- Even in traditional clinical practices, grow your patient base by checking in with patients remotely. You can increase your profitability by decreasing the use of physical exam rooms while seeing more patients each day.
- Consult with local hospitals by making yourself available as an off-site specialist. You can collaborate with hospital teams and contribute to innovative patient care. This cuts cost for the hospital and patients, while allowing eminent practitioners to work together for better health outcomes.
To decide if telemedicine is the right choice for the needs of your patients and practice, ask the following questions:
- What laws in my state will apply to my use of telemedicine?
- Which telemedicine options will be the best fit for me?
- What will I need to implement telemedicine in a cost-effective way?
How can I Implement Telemedicine?
Choosing a telemedicine system depends on several factors, including the type of medicine you practice and the size of your patient load. There will be an upfront investment to begin using telemedicine, so it’s important to choose the most cost effective system that can improve your services. However, despite the initial investment cost, most practices find telemedicine actually saves the practice money over time. Each general care visit conducted via telemedicine, for example, can save a practice at least 100 dollars compared to using clinic space and staff for the same service. The reduction of overhead costs alone can make implementing telemedicine systems cost neutral or even profitable. One estimate of returns on the upfront investment predict $3.30 gained from telemedicine for every $1 spent on the initial implementation.
Any shift from in-house to remote care will also require a change in staff and operating procedures. While some clinicians do switch to fully virtual care, most doctors and hospitals who use telemedicine will find a balance between in-house and remote care. It will be up to you to decide how much time and money you want to invest in telemedicine, as it will require a change in your office dynamic and finding a balance between your in-house patients and remote patients.
How much will this cost?
Telemedicine systems vary widely in cost, in part depending on the company you purchase from. You will also pay more to outfit a larger company or hospital with adequate software and equipment than a smaller practice, and those clinicians who carry a heavier virtual exam system will need a costlier set up than those only offering a few biometric readers as an auxiliary service. Ask for a quote from the company helping you design your system. Expect an upfront cost as well as an ongoing monthly or annualcharge.
What are the technical requirements?
Obviously, as telemedicine functions in the virtual space, you will need to have strong internet connections on both ends of the service. Both you and your patients should have broadband-level speeds in order to make video chat and data exchanges work smoothly. This can be a problem in remote areas or emergency scenes where internet may be down or hard to access.
Any equipment you provide for patient use should be as easy to set up and use as possible to reduce barriers to care. Both the patient and the practitioner will need a computer with both microphone and camera access for video chats. Ask the company you’re working with whether they will provide computers for patient use, and whether any biometric devices to be used will be on a lease or purchased through a separate vendor. You may need to purchase or lease stethoscopes, scales, glucose monitors, and blood pressure monitors that digitally deliver patient vital data directly to your clinic’s system. Where available, investing in a mobile app can make patient access even easier.
Who will train my employees?
Most doctors and nurses are not taught about remote patient care during their formal education, but there are specific skills that increase the effectiveness of telemedical care that must be learned. Many platforms include training on ways to incorporate patient interactions online as well as how to use the physical equipment. Ambulance kits or remote site clinic set ups in particular will require more extensive training, so build that time and expense into your plans for implementation.
What are the laws that regulate telemedicine?
Each state regulates telemedicine in its own way, and as a new field, there are still many undecided areas for how to apply medical law and insurance guidelines to the practice. Some states are more restrictive than others, particularly in the limitations on how payment for telemedicine can be processed. Check your state laws before investing in a telemedicine system.
Even though telemedicine enables patient care over distance, because it is regulated within states, you will want to limit your practice to a single state. As with all other types of medical practice, you need to hold a valid license in the state where you practice. The state medical board will have more information on which state will accept your current licensure.
Public chat programs such as Skype are not legal venues for the practice of medicine as dictated by The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The patient privacy standards established by HIPPA require medical communication to be both secure and encrypted to prevent unwanted data breeches from occurring. Any biometric devices you implement must also be FDA approved. Trustworthy companies should certify they follow these practices but by law it is your responsibility to ensure you follow all HIPPA and FDA regulations.
How will insurance affect my use of telemedicine?
Insurance practices, like medical practice, are governed by state laws. Private insurers find the cost savings of telemedicine appealing and most major providers will include telemedicine in their coverage. Medicaid is more limited in what it can cover. Only 16 states allow Medicaid reimbursement and generally only cover video chat. Medicare is the most limited of all, approved only within facilities that provide rural care where there are no other options available. Patient direct payment for telemedicine is cost prohibitive and rare, but many of the major telemedicine systems providers can accept credit cards or HSA cards.
In some states you will be able to prescribe medication virtually, but there are usually limitations on narcotics. Any ePrescriptions you provide will be regulated in a similar way to in-person care.
Should I adopt telemedicine?
Telemedicine can be the best, and in some cases only, care for patients for whom an in-person office visit is difficult. Because regulations on use vary greatly by state and due to the variety of equipment and software options available, telemedicine can look very different for each practice. While telemedicine may end up allowing you to save money and expand your care services, choose the right system for your patients to maximize the innovative technology available.