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Telemedicine was originally utilized to provide options to patients who lived in rural or underserved communities. As the pandemic spread across the world, healthcare providers turned to telemedicine as a “safer” way to aid not only these remote patients but also COVID-19 patients, expanding the scope of telemedicine. Today, telemedicine is an additional and common tool on top of in-person doctor’s visits that health providers offer to patients as a convenient and time-efficient option. This healthcare field has grown with technological advancements increasing the efficiency and productivity of processes. Three key areas of growth include AI automation, RPM (Remote Patient Monitoring) devices, and EHR (Electronic Health Records) integration.
AI Automation
The healthcare industry has taken advantage of the rise of AI by leveraging the technology to improve telemedicine appointment efficiency through automation. This past week, a collaboration between Suki, an artificial intelligence platform with a focus on serving clinicians and improving health systems, and Zoom was announced. Their goal is to help healthcare providers further shift their attention to their patients by automating notetaking through voice recognition. Zoom serves as a reliable platform to organize appointments that, with Suki Platform, can both “drive employee productivity and enhance patient experiences” as stated by Smita Hashim the chief product officer at Zoom. The use of generative AI has seen results in helping clinicians complete notes about 72% faster on average. Suki views this collaboration as an opportunity to further their products by creating interaction models with the video interface provided with Zoom to make healthcare technology “invisible" and “assistive” as stated in an article by Healthcare IT News. These advancements in appointment efficiency developed by Zoom and Suki reinforce the overall goal: help clinicians gear all their productivity and efforts into their patients.
RPM Devices
When it comes to patients who have long-term conditions that require constant visits or check-ups, remote patient monitoring is a great resource for both providers and patients. Providers can take advantage of the real-time data tracking health metrics to adjust treatments and assess their patient’s condition with more accuracy. Patients have a convenient option especially if their condition affects their ability to attend in-person appointments. Heart failure is a growing cause of death and one of the most expensive conditions to manage. RPM steps in as an opportunity to assist providers and patients in more easily connecting via follow-ups. It’s accurate tracking of weight fluctuations caused by fluid retention and is vital in detecting if a patient’s heart health is worsening sooner rather than later. One of the most notable advancements in the devices includes a scale for daily weight monitoring. These scales not only provide weight information but also details such as body composition, increasing the amount of data given to providers, and improving patient treatment plans. This information is connected through these devices to platforms accessible to healthcare providers, making a seamless transfer of information from patient to provider.
EHR Integration
Electronic Health Records have been in use for years as they provide healthcare professionals easy access to their patient records eliminating excessive manual and counter-productive work. The next step is to take EHR into telemedicine to enhance productivity in identifying and keeping track of patient data and information, streamlining clinical work processes, and improving communication between both parties. Ultimately, the goal is to integrate the hospital's current EHR system into virtual care services while continuing to apply the hospital’s data management system. This would allow for efficient and easy access to critical patient information that is transferable and modifiable as their health progresses.
Telemedicine is already an innovative change in the healthcare industry, but with additional technology integration, this convenient option grows in productivity and efficiency from incorporating AI automation into virtual visits, utilizing RPM devices to track patient health, and connecting EHR into current telemedicine systems. Soon, there may be an increased usage of Gen AI or the metaverse within the healthcare industry and telemedicine; the opportunities are endless.
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