Telehealth: Enhanced provider communication

Telehealth introduces a number of enhancements to the healthcare process. It increases accessibility, allowing patients to connect with less hassle and to gain access to specialists outside of their area. It creates a care environment where patients can experience more comfort and privacy. It also has the potential to reduce costs for both providers and patients.

However, telehealth’s most valuable benefit may be its capacity to improve communication between patients, doctors, and providers. Telehealth tools open doors for patients to experience streamlined communication before, during, and after appointments. It also facilitates ongoing access to the information patients need to take control of their own healthcare journey.

Patients report that frustration with communication is their top healthcare complaint. Telehealth provides the tools needed to address that complaint. By making it easier for critical information to be exchanged, telehealth leads to better patient/provider relationships and better treatment outcomes.

The importance of healthcare communication

Medical diagnoses and the effectiveness of the treatment they trigger hinges on communication. Doctors must create environments in which patients feel comfortable enough to communicate clearly and comprehensively. They also must ensure their communication with patients is heard, understood, and adhered to. Ideally, patient/provider communication also involves an easy avenue for follow-up.

When communication fails, the consequences can be dire. Misunderstandings can lead to misdiagnoses. If patients aren’t clear on how to follow through, treatment can be ineffective or cause additional health issues. If patients feel doctors or their staff are unavailable or unsympathetic to their needs, they can choose to withhold feedback that is critical for refining treatment.

Telehealth empowers a heightened level of patient/provider communication. Ultimately, it increases the patient’s capacity for collaboration, opening doors for them to be better educated and to provide critical health information more easily and effectively. The following are some of the key enhancements telehealth offers to the healthcare communication process.

Real-time virtual consultations

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth was primarily used to help patients prepare for in-office appointments. It was used to gather patient information and pre-file forms. It was also a tool for providing patients with information on what they could expect when they showed up for their appointments.

During the pandemic, however, telehealth became the tool used to conduct appointments. When shelter-in-place orders kept patients from physically attending their appointments, telehealth saved the day by facilitating virtual appointments. It introduced many patients to a new paradigm — one which many patients have come to prefer.

Telehealth allows for the same type of real-time consultations patients experience with in-office visits but in a virtual setting. Through video-driven consultations, doctors can see their patients’ faces, which gives them valuable non-verbal cues. The real-time element allows both doctors and patients to gain immediate clarification on comments or questions.

Telehealth also has the ability to enhance communication by allowing patients to connect with providers from the comfort of their own homes. This saves them from the stress that is often experienced from commuting to an appointment and waiting in the doctor’s office, which can negatively impact clarity in communication. Patients may also share more readily about their condition and concerns when surrounded by the comforts of home.

Secure messaging and data sharing

In addition to helping patients get more comfortable with telehealth processes, the COVID-19 pandemic also ramped up the development of telehealth platforms. As a result, healthcare providers now have powerful tools they can use for secure messaging and data sharing.

Secure platforms benefit providers by ensuring they stay in compliance with appropriate healthcare regulations. For example, they utilize encryption, authentication, integrity controls, and auditing to control access to electronic private health information.

Specialized platforms also provide peace of mind to patients concerned about the security of their information. During the pandemic, rules were relaxed to facilitate the quick adoption of telehealth technology, which led to some security concerns. The platforms that have emerged since the pandemic are specifically designed to reassure patients that their information is kept safe and confidential.

Remote monitoring and feedback loops

In the years prior to telehealth, patient follow-up generally involved an appointment scheduled weeks after a patient’s initial diagnosis. If issues occurred between appointments, it was the responsibility of the patient to note them, evaluate them, and report them to the doctor. It was an inefficient process with a lot of room for error.

Telehealth tools improve the process dramatically, empowering remote monitoring and automated reporting that help doctors stay on top of their patients’ progress between appointments. With telehealth, providers can create feedback loops that provide valuable data for improving individual patient care as well as the overall healthcare process.

Combining wearable medical devices with telehealth platforms allows for continuous data collection, allowing doctors to identify emerging issues before they lead to serious problems. As data is shared and analyzed, it empowers proactive communication from providers, often alerting patients to issues before they are able to detect their effects.

Remote monitoring also helps patients to partner with doctors in the healthcare process. It empowers them to actively track their recovery, providing a tool for providing feedback and getting a rapid response.

Improving communication in healthcare interactions is one of the best ways to improve patient engagement, satisfaction, and safety. Telehealth provides the tools needed for improved communications, empowering patients and providers to get the information they need when they need it without the hurdles or hassles that exist in traditional healthcare communication.

— Lindsay Dymowski Constantino is the President of Centennial Pharmacy Services, a leading long-term care-at-home pharmacy, and co-founder of LTC@Home Pharmacy Companies, which supports the pharmacy and broader healthcare industries by providing long-term care pharmacy services in the home setting. With over 15 years of experience in the pharmacy field and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, Lindsay enables better health outcomes through patient-centric care and has a deep understanding of what drives successful pharmacies beyond medication dispensing.