Telehealth platforms are in great demand these days as doctors and patients rely on these platforms for medical care. Many healthcare professionals are finding out the best telehealth platform they can join to practice their medical care and improve patient engagement. So doctors are unaware of major factors they need to consider while choosing the best health platform for their medical practice.
In this blog, we will guide you through various aspects and necessary factors on which you should focus while choosing the telehealth platform. Additionally, also find about the HAA complainant policy as per the US government laws to ensure safety and security measures for the doctors and patients. Therefore, check out the list of various factors that you need to consider while opting for a telehealth platform and start practising on the best domain for your growth.
7 Things to Consider While Choosing the Best Telehealth Platforms
1. Check the Methods It Follow:
There are three main Telehealth integrations that make a virtual healthcare platform the platform you want. Not all three are available on all of these HIPPA compliant telehealth company, but the patient must make a decision by choosing at least one type of integration on the remote health platform:
Synchronous modality allows the patient to make a video or voice call appointment. The whole process takes place via a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Synchronous modality sometimes involves on-site patient monitoring using peripherals another healthcare provider uses to send real-time updates to physicians.
Asynchronous modality allows patients to send their images or clinical data through a portal that uses an instant messaging client. This type of modality does not use real-time connection methods. The doctor will look at the patient’s details later.
Remote patient monitoring; through this method, the doctor receives the patient’s data either directly or stored, remotely.
2. Data security
The first consideration must be data security and then the highest security you can find. When in doubt, don’t just use it. In the world, we are looking for PoPI and HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Liability Act). Honestly, HIPPA is part of US regulation, and it may not apply to us, but this concerns real concerns about patient data and the avoidance of litigation instead of just following the law. In telehealth software platforms video and text messaging are just two of the many things that are crucial for remote health security. Your patient’s name, email address, home address, phone number, and other things are all covered by the data and must be protected.
Map Data: Find out where your data is available in the cloud.
ASK & Apply: Who should have access to the data access to data and require seeing the evidence of a business partnership agreement to ensure that all staff is at the same level as your solution provider.
Monitor: All data access to your data.
Setting Alarms: To notify you when someone has access to your data.
Security: Ensure the solution has encryption, server room security, and two-factor authentication.
3. Public or Private Chat Platforms
There are a number of online video and group chat platforms on the market today. There is nothing against Zoom, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, or WhatsApp or their colleagues, but data security is paramount in a healthcare environment. The vast majority of these platforms were made for reasons other than remote health and have therefore been adapted to suit a platform designed specifically for healthcare professionals on the move and in the modern world.
For instance, Zoom has become the most popular business meeting software
in use today.
Its free version and ease of use have made it a quick choice for many practitioners, but the question is whether it is suitable for remote health consultations. The answer is that Zoom; The free and paid versions are NOT HIPPA-compliant, which is why they have recently introduced Zoom for Healthcare. With a 12-month contract, you can expect to pay a base rate of 200 US dollars a month, or about 3,400 US dollars at today’s rate. You can’t expect to be able to use such advanced and compliant software and stay on the telemedicine platform for just a few weeks.
Zoom was not originally for telemedicine platforms. It, therefore, did not have the features that remote healthcare technology trends have for online consultation or patient data storage. For this exact reason, Zoom was not originally to be HIPPA compliant. It has much more than just full encryption. HIPPA was established to protect patient privacy and ensure that they have access to their medical records. PII (Personal Identifiable Information) is protected through the storage, transmission, and access of that information.
4. Data Analysis for Telemedicine Platforms
Although the data analytics used in the telehealth Platform does not directly affect patients, it does increase the overall performance of such systems. With a great background in data analytics, telehealth platforms are always ready to deliver the ultimate patient care due to their strong grip on patient trends.
5. Security and Compliance
If your privacy and data are not secure, you may have to face a number of challenges. Telemedicine healthcare practices clearly define how to store and share patient information on their servers. Make sure your platform is HIPAA, PIPEDA, or PHIPA compliant and includes full encryption to prevent third parties from reading or accessing your private communications. As telehealth regulations still need some relaxation but it is time to be more vigilant about various remote health issues. Here are some of the threats your choice of telehealth platform should be able to protect you against.
Cybersecurity and Data Risks
Phishing
Hacking
Ransomware
Compliance Risks
Fraud Risks
HIPAA risks
6. Ease of Access to Service Providers and Patients
The best telemedicine platform should be cross-compatible and can run seamlessly on any device, like a computer, smartphone, or tablet. The web browser and the operating system should work smoothly and reliably, no matter what device or browser you are using. In principle, the software should run as smoothly on older laptops as on the latest smartphone. The most feasible and easy-to-use platforms are the web and cloud. Web-based platforms make it easy to use the best telehealth Health platform on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. There is no requirement to install or download and you can access it from any available Internet connection tool.
7. Scalable and Adaptable
Everything in the technological world changes every day, including the business size and revenue. When it comes to telehealth, no one wants to grow out of their telemedicine platform in just a year or two. Everyone wants a platform that scales as your organization grows and that is adaptable as conditions change.
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