Exploring Fully Integrated vs. Free Telehealth Solutions 

While these tools offered a quick and easy solution at the start of the pandemic, they’re not ideal for practices looking to offer a next-generation virtual care experience. Two years later, and the challenges associated with using free telehealth solutions are clear:

Challenges for Patients 

Healthcare consumers want and expect their providers to offer virtual visits— but the technology powering said visits matters. Patients expect a seamless experience, and clunky, ill-equipped technology simply won’t cut it.

In fact, in one survey, 50% of patients said they believe that a negative digital experience makes the entire medical interaction unfavorable. Because many of the free videoconferencing tools on the market weren’t designed for virtual care, they tend to offer a suboptimal digital experience at best. The unfortunate reality is that this can lead to decreased patient satisfaction, engagement, and adherence.

Challenges for Providers

Free solutions are equally (or more) frustrating for providers, particularly when it comes to handling visit-related administrative tasks. Confusing, inaccurate, or hard-to-read virtual visit schedules can lead to scheduling gaps and over- or underbookings for providers.

What’s more, free solutions don’t integrate with electronic health records (EHRs), practice management systems, and other patient engagement tools. Lack of integration prevents these tools from fitting into clinical workflows, which creates a significant barrier to digital transformation for practices and providers.

Challenges for Practices

Healthcare practices also face challenges associated with free telehealth solutions. These tools lack the features necessary for an end-to-end virtual visit, such as digital waiting rooms and patient intake forms that upload to the EHR in real time. But that’s not all: Lack of security protocols and HIPAA compliance puts both practices and patients at risk. There’s also the risk of increased practice churn. Today’s healthcare consumers have high expectations, and they’re not afraid to change providers in search of a better digital experience.

A Great User Experience

Your telehealth solution needs to offer an exceptional user experience to ensure it’s easy and convenient for patients to complete all required steps. For example, everything from scheduling the initial virtual visit to completing intake forms and post-visit surveys should be as seamless and user-friendly as possible.

End-to-End Virtual Care

End-to-end virtual care is the goal, and a next-generation telehealth solution is the answer. That means the technology you choose should be designed to automate and support each step of the virtual care journey, including:

• Appointment scheduling
• Patient registration and intake
• Virtual waiting room and visit
• Post-visit follow-ups and surveys

Seamless interfacing with other solutions: Integrated telehealth solutions communicate with other systems in real time for seamless virtual care.

Customization to align with clinical workflows: Tailor your solution to align with in-office workflows and ensure every step is accounted for with ease.

Excellent virtual care experiences for patients: Patients can start their visit with a single click via a secure link—no downloads or registration required.

Increased efficiency due to automated workflows: Automate email/text visit invites, form generation, patient encounter creation, and visit analytics.

Mimics in-office operations for a great experience: Easily transition between staff and provider interactions, even when conducting a virtual visit.

Dedication to the Patient Experience 

The best vendor partners are inherently dedicated to equipping providers with the tools and support they need to deliver quality patient experiences. In other words, you need a partner who keeps current on what patients want and expect from their providers—and then adapts their solutions to help you meet those expectations.

Understanding Clinical Workflows

In addition to patient engagement expertise, your vendor partner should possess a deep understanding of clinical workflows. They should also be aware of where and how pain points tend to occur and slow down virtual visit management.

Exceptional Technical Support

Even the most user-friendly of telehealth solutions may require technical support at some point in time. Your vendor partner should offer exceptional customer service and technical support to help you resolve problems (if needed) and minimize any downtime.

Commitment to Innovation

Choose a vendor partner who’s committed to innovation. A forward-thinking partner will help your practice prepare for technological advancements while releasing continuous updates to keep pace with evolving consumer expectations.