How Communication APIs are helping deliver quality Healthcare via Telemedicine ---- 5 min read

In this Covid-19 impacted world, software applications have become fundamental in every aspect of our living. APIs (Application Programming Interface) are the driving force behind the development of such software applications.

Communication APIs are built for communication within and between software applications,  as they establish standardized syntax and methods for such features. Along with Communication SDKs, they help applications launch effective communication capabilities swiftly, and achieve their goals. We all know why it is better to get these communication features by Buying rather than Building.

When we talk about healthcare, communication plays an important role in providing healthcare services. Apart from that communication plays a critical role in how organizations convey general public health information and stay up with the latest on constantly advancing circumstances etc. Hence, Communication APIs can be utilized to build the bridge between healthcare providers and users during this pandemic.

The Problem

Covid-19 is straining health systems globally and the day by day increasing demand for healthcare facilities and healthcare workers threatens to leave some healthcare systems overstretched. As the coronavirus ravaged many countries throughout the globe, most patients have been unable or reluctant to access in-person care from their health professionals. People are scared to come out and this has taken a toll on their mental health also.

As communication APIs have paved the way for remote care in the healthcare industry, more and more providers are now relying on telemedicine to provide necessary consultation, virtual care, therapy sessions, follow-ups etc to their patients virtually. Here APIs adhere to strict healthcare privacy guidelines, allowing healthcare providers with the ability to reliably connect with patients in real time without the need for an inconvenient hospital visit.

What is Telemedicine? 

“Telemedicine is the future of the Healthcare”

Telemedicine platform, Telehealth or E-medicine, is the remote delivery of healthcare services, including consultations, follow-ups, diagnoses, etc over the telecommunications infrastructure. Be it  Teleconsultation, Telemonitoring, or Tele-surgery, Telemedicine empowers communication and collaborative work between health professionals and patients, irrespective of their geographical location.

Talking with your primary care physician remotely is a straightforward, influential idea that will have a concrete effect on how we remain educated, have clarity on certain situations, and discover new approaches to address both new and routine wellbeing challenges. 

Telemedicine services are already very popular, as well as critical.  The advantages of telemedicine incorporate enhancing access to human resources and reducing the pressure on the physical offices expected to test and treat cases. The interest in these services has jumped exponentially overnight.

Communication and In-App Chat APIs can help integrate teleconsultation features in existing websites and apps of healthcare providers. They can also help launch completely new applications for healthcare delivery.

Virtual connectivity during Covid-19

When it comes to telemedicine, services need to prioritize user comfort first to establish trust among their users and encourage more usage. To help users feel cozy, effective telemedicine apps are adopting features that users are familiar with from apps they use in their daily life. 

Most Users nowadays are familiar with the working of basic Chat Applications. They find it comfortable to interact with these applications. A Chat application, with a similar user interface that sends and conveys messages with no apparent delay. An online indicator indicating that the doctor is available and is online. Typing Indicators and read receipts gives assurance to the patients that their concerns are being attended to. This enables patients to communicate directly and privately with their doctors in real time which ultimately leads to customer satisfaction. 

Further telemedicine apps are evolving the entire communication in the healthcare industry as it enables the following features:

• Approaching a doctor based on the disease
• Instant Call with doctors right from the couch
• Sharing of prescription, diagnostic report, X-ray through the app
• Real time chat regarding the use of medicines 
• Booking, scheduling and cancelling appointments
• Follow-ups for patient recovery
• Medication alerts

During the time of restricted movement, people are getting more inclined towards these real-time, well encrypted, on-demand doctor features of telemedicine apps. 

Battling misinformation about the disease with proactive messages 

During the last 2 months, we all have come across a lot of misinformation about the pandemic. Most of this worry is coming from vulnerability about which data to accept and hypothesis about how this emergency will advance. When trusted organizations convey data legitimately to individuals who need it most, they help slice through the haze of unfiltered social media information.

Healthcare Chatbots have emerged as a viable and scalable solution during this pandemic. Chatbots are a way to ease the strain on health workers as they assist with appointments and help patients get a preliminary diagnosis. Apart from this Chatbots are helping in fighting the coronavirus infodemic, too. Chatbots are being utilized for sharing accurate and verified information with its users.

Once a user subscribes to a healthcare chatbot, they receive notifications about the latest news and information about the disease directly from the organization.

Broadcast Messages is another powerful feature that is widely being used by healthcare organizations to send alerts or awareness messages to multiple recipients with ease using the 1-to-N broadcast feature. This puts a stop on conspiracy theories and panic caused by the disease. 

Push Notifications can be used to notify users about new messages. Users will get push notifications for incoming messages which will ensure that they do not miss out on any important message.

What would make a successful telemedicine app?

Following are the features of a successful telemedicine app:

• GDPR & HIPAA Compliant 
• Data rich communications
• Finer patient care
• Perks for all actors
• Boosting modern healthcare via Connected Ecosystem

Conclusion

“In this dynamic world where quick access to information is critical, and where verdicts and challenges are truly matter of life-or-death importance, successful API strategies are a must.”

Numerous Healthcare suppliers are struggling to address the obstacles of giving virtual consideration to patients.  Communication APIs create new ways for doctors to engage and connect with the patients through the web, mobile, and social apps. APIs offer real-time messaging solutions that can reduce the resources and time to run and maintain Telehealth offerings. Thus by developing internal APIs, healthcare organizations can offer their workers and partners new tools that streamline operations and give patients a higher quality of care.

Channelize.io delivers Chat APIs and SDKs that can be utilized to build in-app chat, voice, and video features to empower patients to interact with healthcare providers using an app. Channelize.io also offers one-month free access to our HIPAA-compliant Real-time chat platform. We trust that access to Channelize.io empowers Healthcare associations to give important clinical counsel and pieces of information to patients over their own web or mobile applications.