How Artificial Intelligence Is Improving Telemedicine
Telemedicine or telehealth services were already on the upswing before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic, as we were forced into quarantine, more patients and many more doctors and healthcare facilities became reliant on telehealth – pushing advancement in telehealth apps. Telemedicine apps needed to become broader, faster, more interactive, more intuitive, and more accurate — a need that was successfully fulfilled by AI.
AI is being increasingly used in telemedicine to allow doctors to make more data-driven, real-time decisions that may improve the patient experience and health outcomes.
According to a study from MIT, 75% of healthcare facilities that utilized AI reported improved capacity to manage illnesses, and 4/5 said that AI aided in reducing employee fatigue. AI in healthcare is a promising strategy for the future of telemedicine applications, given that COVID-19 continues to place a strain on both the volume of patient data analysis and the number of people who need medical attention.
In one example cited in the MIT study, an AI-integrated system was used to help a doctor in India manage his telehealth patient load. The system, which was designed by US-based company Welltok, was able to provide real-time analysis of the doctor’s interactions with patients and make recommendations on how he could improve his care. Telehealth solutions like these lower the burdens on health plans, providers, and employer benefit managers while providing an on-demand customized experience for patients.
According to Welltok, its AI “chatbot” has an accuracy rate of 98 percent and was found to save consumers time by over 60%.
Virtual nursing assistants are another way that AI is being used to deliver improved telehealth services. These assistants use natural language processing (NLP) to understand questions asked by patients and provide answers based on information from their electronic health records.
One example of a virtual nursing assistant is the app NurseWise, which was developed by the American Nurses Association. This app provides nursing advice and guidance to patients 24/hours a day, seven days a week.
Another progressive use of telehealth, also driven by the pandemic, was the increased use of RPM, which stands for remote patient monitoring. RPM is a way to gather and transmit patient health data to medical specialists outside of a doctor’s office or a clinical environment via linked technology. RPM leverages AI and Internet of Things technologies such as the Apple Watch, Google Fit, and other wearables to collect patient information and other vital signs like heart rates, sleep patterns, and physical activity levels.
Thanks to advances in AI, telehealth is becoming more widely available and affordable, making it easier for people to get the care they need without having to ever leave their homes!
How BigRio is Helping to Advance Telehealth
At BigRio, we like to feel that we are doing our part to improve telehealth by using our resources to help existing telemedicine providers and AI startups who are focused on leveraging AI for advanced telehealth applications.
For example, we recently had a client, a tech giant in the healthcare industry known for its telemedicine platform that connects providers, insurers, patients, and innovators to deliver greater access to more affordable, higher quality care. Due to the unprecedented times of the global COVID pandemic, this client needed to strengthen and expand their virtual care platform in order to stay ahead of their competition. We created a proprietary Accelerate Framework in order to meet aggressive deadlines and reduce the risk of market loss. Overall, upon implementation, the client saw three areas of improvement to make their application more competitive for their new market.
1. Improved access and documentation of Patient Care History
2. Migrating data and integrating old data from legacy systems
3. Increasing Security standards and SSO
What we did for them, we could do for you whether you have an existing telehealth application or are in the design and development phase; if you want to learn more about transforming your telehealth offerings, please contact us.
Rohit Mahajan is a Managing Partner with BigRio. He has a particular expertise in the development and design of innovative solutions for clients in Healthcare, Financial Services, Retail, Automotive, Manufacturing, and other industry segments.
BigRio is a technology consulting firm empowering data to drive innovation, and advanced AI. We specialize in cutting-edge Big Data, Machine Learning, and Custom Software strategy, analysis, architecture, and implementation solutions. If you would like to benefit from our expertise in these areas or if you have further questions on the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact us.
