Every business must keep up with the fast pace and immediate benefits from technology, especially in today’s healthcare companies. Technology has stepped in to provide an efficient, fast, and accessible solution. Telemedicine allows medical information to be exchanged from a distance. All kinds of medical information, such as diagnosis, clinical management, treatment, and medical education, are communicated despite the distance.

More and more individuals are becoming open to seeing their doctors online. A Software Advice study reported that 75% of the respondents had an interest in telemedicine. Healthcare institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic has a telemedicine program that employs devices that allow for virtual visits and image transfers. The patient has the device at home, while the same access is received from the hospital. Time is not compromised for immediate care and monitoring. Your healthcare company can target a new market with patients living in remote areas or where travel is impractical. It can also attract those who live in busy cities but do not have the time to make hospital visits during work days. Either way, telemedicine expands the possibilities for your business. Here are the benefits your company may enjoy from this new paradigm.

1.    Faster Consultations and Greater Healthcare Access

Telemedicine provides a more efficient and faster way of exchanging information. Doctors and patients speak directly to one another, avoiding the delays usually experienced in a hospital. Both parties use their time accordingly and need not wait for referrals from other parties. Chijoke Agomo’s article in the Pharmaceutical Journal reports that telemedicine will improve the National Health Service’s (NHS) efficiency through communication enhancement across the healthcare pyramid.

Patients are provided with immediate healthcare access as a result. Telemedicine is able to reduce the waiting period for expert treatment and diagnosis from specialists. Doctors are able to receive the patient’s records immediately and allow the patient to get an immediate diagnosis through a virtual consultation. Telemedicine’s reduced time was experienced in West Virginia’s Veterans Administration, where the waiting time went down from 7 to 1.5 weeks in a teleurology project.

2.    Higher Profit Through Revenue Cycle Management

Healthcare services aren’t the only focus of a clinic or hospital. The business side of the practice must also benefit from the addition of telemedicine. This means that every minute spent on processing a patient’s request, insurance, claims, and payment must be profitable. Revenue cycle management (RCM) refines all the steps that involve making a profit, reducing the time and effort involved in manual or traditional payment collections.

RCM software is the other big foundation of your telemedicine practice. From an RCM software, hospital staff can easily look at a patient’s insurance status. From there, the patient’s online consultation will be scheduled. Once the patient has logged in for the online visit, the RCM software immediately works on settling the payments. The application requests for the payment before they log out or leave the online visit, lessening the likelihood of an unpaid visit. As a result, your medical practice experience a better cash flow.  The RCM software also makes payment information easy to enter after the checkup. All the patient’s data is saved for future entries, so the RCM software can also predict the potential revenue for future visits.

RCM also prevents denied claims from occurring. The software minimizes errors from data entry and other human mistakes, thus decreasing the number of denied claims. As a result, RMC software increases the number of patients rather than lowering them. RCM also stays on top of unpaid claims, keeping you on top of this other revenue stream and ensuring it is delivered to your business.

3.    A New Source of Revenue

As indicated earlier, your clinic can expand its market and reach out to patients who don’t have physical access to your healthcare services. Market telemedicine to patients who need to take one- to two-hour long trips to your hospital. Both patients and physicians save time by having the consultations online. Information is also exchanged more quickly compared to them having to wait in line to process their tests and documents.

4.    Higher Patient Satisfaction Scores

People no longer rely on referrals when choosing a healthcare provider. Your potential customers are more likely to check reviews online, looking specifically at the convenience and how short they have to wait. In fact, a Harvard research study reported that only 20 minutes out of 121 minutes spent on a doctor visit is actually spent with a doctor. Patients will likely give your business a higher score from waiting less and having immediate access to the physician consultation itself. Telemedicine doesn’t only lessen the wait but also allows the doctor to spend more time with the patient.

5.    A More Efficient Workflow

The decreased waiting time and faster turnover of telemedicine allow hospital or clinical staff to immediately make the right physician recommendation before turning them over to the appropriate specialist. A nurse can take care of asking the routine medical questions before the patient is turned over for the online consultation. All the relevant information is gathered by the experts and analyzed accordingly before the doctor makes the correct diagnosis.

If you’re planning to incorporate Telemedicine, or revitalize your RCM practice, experts like Infinit-O can help assess the situation. Our high-quality healthcare outsourcing solutions are cost-efficient while still delivering optimum business value. We provide strategic advice you can use to expand your business’ healthcare services. Talk to us today to find out how we can help your business grow. When you’re ready to grow, think Infinit-O!

Infinit-O is the trusted customer-centric and sustainable leader in Business Process Optimization to Small and Medium businesses in the Financial Services, Healthcare and Technology sectors by delivering continuous improvement through technology, data and people.