2020 proved a pivotal year for the growth and acceptance of telethealth services. During the pandemic, this was the only way for many patients to be seen by their physicians and there was an excitement in the space about the possibilities for better and faster treatment that technology presented
Fast forward to today, some five years later, and telehealth appears to be dying. Consumers have started looking at the other innovative technologies and wondered why healthcare can’t follow suit.
Patients want and need better. Developers, designers and other digital experience professionals have a key role in revolutionizing telehealth, bringing it to its 2.0 era.
Digital Transformation is Needed
Recent research shows that nearly half (42%) of US patients believe it’s difficult to find a high-quality healthcare provider. Common complaints include long wait times and issues with scheduling appointments. This comes at a time when more than half of Americans are reporting poor physical and/or mental health.
The rudimentary form of telehealth that became popular in 2020 is not alleviating these issues. Consumers are wondering why they still deal with stressful scheduling procedures, long wait times, hard-to-obtain prescriptions and numerous apps just to manage a portion of their overall health.
The problem isn’t consumers’ desire for more advanced health offerings, it’s that healthcare has been slow to adopt high-tech solutions used in more digitally advanced industries like finance and manufacturing.
Next-Generation Technologies Powering the Telehealth 2.0 Evolution
Artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and big data are innovations transforming other industries, and these can certainly overlap with healthcare. However, there are some specific next-gen technologies in the health and wellness space that digital experience professionals could integrate for their particular organizations.
Doing so would pave the way for telehealth 2.0, and an overall higher-quality patient experience in the coming years.
Internet of Medical Things
Healthcare has lagged on the Internet of Things (IoT) trend for quite some time, but with the emergence of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) over the past few years, it might finally be catching up.
The IoMT refers to the sharing of medical data across various devices. Rather than having every health app or medical office work in isolation, the IoMT aims to draw a holistic picture of a patient, saving medical providers time and making it easier on patients. Physical wearables like Apple Watch, Fitbit, Ava and the Oura Ring are just some of the most popular examples of IoMT.
The IoMT empowers patients to be advocates for their health by giving them the ability to monitor their heart rate, blood sugar levels, trends in their sleep and more. Healthcare providers who sync the data from these devices into their apps not only get a better understanding of their patients but also create a seamless digital experience.
Gaming
It wouldn’t seem like gaming would have any place in the healthcare world, but it is emerging as a popular choice for training and treatment – specifically, mobile gaming.
Healthcare professionals can use games to visualize potential patient scenarios, complete training modules and more. Games can model new procedures or medical devices so that doctors, nurses and medical technicians can start getting acquainted with them before trying them out in the field.
Games also have a place on the treatment side of healthcare. For example, EndeavorRx, is an FDA-authorized video game designed for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The game is specifically designed to help improve attention and focus.
Healthcare organizations looking to implement games must develop them based on science and have studies that prove their effectiveness to back them up. While it may take some time to clear regulatory approvals, it could “level-up” patient care and help healthcare organizations
Virtual Reality
For most industries, virtual reality has been slow to take off. However, similar to gaming, there are valid use cases for it in healthcare for both training and treatment.
Virtual reality headsets can be used to evaluate medical students without requiring a hands-on procedure. The tech could then be used to give them analytics and insights to help them advance their technique and gain an understanding of procedures before practicing in the field.
It doesn’t have to be limited to headsets. Interactive virtual reality situations and procedures can be available on personal devices. Holding realistic virtual spaces and exercises via desktop and mobile apps makes patients feel like they are in-person from the comfort of their own home and empowers them to better manage their mental and physical health.
Using a Robust Content Management System (CMS) for Telehealth 2.0
While all these technologies have unlimited potential, any efforts to use them without integrating them into the brands’ overall digital experience will be futile. This is why developers, web designers and similar professionals must use a robust CMS to create, manage and deliver personalized and seamless experiences across multiple channels. Doing so would have the following benefits:
- AI-Powered Personalized Experiences: Healthcare organizations could benefit from audience segmentation and AI-driven personalization with a holistic CMS, allowing healthcare providers to deliver tailored content with these next-generation technologies. The right CMS can also produce services based on patients’ unique needs or preferences.
- Ensuring Seamless Multichannel Content Delivery: CMSs can help ensure patients access the telehealth services or features they need across various devices such as web, mobile and other digital platforms. Ultimately, this enhances accessibility and convenience.
- Easy Installation and Integration – Low code and modern data integration tools on CMS and the right digital experience platforms (DXPs) can help developers and web designers easily integrate AR, VR and gaming into the necessary business systems.
- Security and Compliance – Enhanced CMS will have an emphasis on security and compliance to help facilitate secure and safe patient experiences that are in accordance with the latest industry standards and regulations.
The World Is Ready for Telehealth 2.0
Telehealth 1.0 is dead, but telehealth 2.0 is just getting started. Whether your healthcare organization is already developing these technologies or weighing how to use budget, there’s a growing demand for next-generation telehealth technologies and a need for holistic CMSs to manage them.
At the end of the day, healthcare organizations need to offer more personalized, accessible and custom-tailored digital experiences. Those who do so will be able to reap the benefits of telehealth for years to come.
About Sara Faatz
Sara Faatz leads the Technology Community and Awareness team at Progress. With more than 20 years in the software development space, she has spent the majority of her career building community, producing events, forging partnerships, and creating content and marketing programs from the ground up. She is a mom, a wife, and a woman in tech who is a passionate advocate for equality and diversity.