Telehealth Platform Enable Secure Connections from Anywhere

Telehealth is the future of healthcare. According to the 2014 World Market for Telehealth report from HIS Technology, the number of patients using telehealth will increase to about 7 million in 2018. Telehealth solutions fall into two broad categories. Remote patient monitoring solutions use a wired or wireless connection to link home healthcare equipment (heart monitors, dialysis equipment, etc.) to the Internet and then securely report patient data back to a healthcare provider.

Fig.1. Advanced Telehealth solutions to improve health access (OSP Labs.com)

Platform Agnostic

Both doctors and patients use a wide variety of computing devices to communicate, so your telehealth platform should support desktop systems, laptops, tablets, and a variety of mobile platforms (Windows, Android, Apple iOS). The solution should also support WiFi, broadband Internet and cellular connections so that you can connect with patients from any location.

Robust Connectivity

A video call with a patient is only effective if both participants can hear and see each other, and if the call isn’t cut off after a few minutes because of a network problem. Ensure that your solution and your underlying network infrastructure (whether it is wired or wireless) can maintain a robust connection.

Vendor Reliability

Perform due diligence on the technology vendor. Talk to existing customers, evaluate the vendor’s financial viability, and examine their product and technology roadmap for the future.

It is clear that telehealth is changing the way doctors communicate with their patients. The ability to  collaborate and offer care via text, voice and video allows doctors to increase productivity without sacrificing the quality of their care. With a telehealth solution that fits the above criteria, you truly can connect with patients from anywhere, anytime, without violating HIPAA privacy rules.