Choosing the right telehealth video platform starts with your operational needs first

As many health care providers are finding their footing in a remote care world, they are looking to adopt long term solutions for remote patient care. This leads to the trouble of choosing the right telehealth platform.

There are many very good telehealth video platforms on the market; some you may have adopted, some, your partners may have adopted on their own. When considering a platform, there are several important questions to ask when determining what is right for your organization.

Operational needs

It’s important not to get carried away by the benefits and sales pitch side of choosing the right telehealth platform without first considering the practicality of implementing and managing telehealth services that are unique for you. Some internal questions to focus on are:

• Who internally will manage your telehealth initiative? How comfortable are they with technology?
• Who will support telehealth from an IT perspective?
• What workflows need to be revisited in a telehealth model?
• Can your IT infrastructure support the increased video usage requirements?

Feature requirements

When deciding which telehealth video platform is right for your organization, ensuring that all of the necessary features are included in your package is an easy way to narrow your search. Some key questions to ask yourself include:

• Does it need to integrate with your Electronic Health Records?
• Does it need to be able to integrate phone calls?
• How many people can be on a visit at the same time?
• Does it have a waiting room feature?
• Does it allow for image upload and text?
• Does it work in low bandwidth environments?

Background on the service provider

There are a number of compliance and support functions that video platform services may or may not offer. You should be aware of how much support you can expect before venturing any further with a provider, including:

• What security and compliance procedures do they have?
• Will they sign your Business Associate Agreement?
• How large is the team that will be supporting you?
• What is the reputation of their support team?
• What are their IT/bandwidth requirements?
• Do they provide language translation support or closed captioning?

Implementation needs

It is important to consider your competencies and gaps when thinking about the implementation of a new telehealth video platforming service; both from a company bandwidth and a patient’s service perspective. For the best result, you will need to be up-front with your potential provider on what support you will require for set-up, such as:

• Provider and patient instructions
• IT implementation support and training
• Workflow guides
• Phased implementation approach
• Identified measures of success

Insource is pleased to offer bespoke consulting services designed to introduce users to the operational challenges and benefits that different telehealth platform services offer. Beyond offering guidance and support of choosing and implementing the right service for your company, Insource can guide you through the ongoing challenges of maintaining a top tier service for your organization.

To register your interest, fill in your details on the Google form here please contact us at insource@insourceservices.com or (781) 235-1490.