For a consistently high level of care while simultaneously reaching economic and productiveness-related aims, innovative technologies as well as an efficient cooperation of all partners are indispensable.
Video conferencing offers a multitude of advantages for any fields of healthcare. Video conferencing strengthens clinical cooperation at a reasonable price, enables virtual care team consultion, and helps to manage distributed operations. Video conferencing scales scarce resources, reduces travel expenses, and expands access to care. Concrete examples:
Quality assurance
Due to cost reasons, many small and medium sized hospitals cannot maintain their own radiological departments, but call upon resident radiologists or radiological departments of neighbouring hospitals. Video conferences can support and accelerate important discussions and consultations like this in an effective way, and thus ensure and improve treatment quality. Besides, travel time expenses decrease significantly.
More profitability by diminished transfer expenditure
Through video conferences, hospitals enable patients' access to specialized long-term treatments – and thus extend their range of services without transferring respective cases to other houses.
New business models
Relatives' visits at any time with video conferences: The hospital's IT department maintains an infrastructure for mobile video conferencing clients, and lends iPads for a service fee. Relatives may visit "their" patients at any time – visiting hours are equalized and personnel work is facilitated, while the department's ROI increases. With appropriate technology, such services may even run as own profit centres.
Integration of experts
Highly qualified staff is rare – and accordingly asked. With video conferencing, external know-how can easily be included in consultation conferences, patient's talks, doctor's meetings, lectures, or similar.
Nurses training
Video conferencing is a highly efficient training tool: contents and lecture can easily be broadcasted and provided across locations – live or on demand. For example, if a computer application is changed or updated, whole teams can be trained together. Work absence is minimized by decreased travel time.
Continuing education for physicians
Tight-scheduled physicians can attend training courses via video conference to acquire CME points, new employees can be trained in groups together across locations: An effective approach especially with regards to subjects like social benefits, practice guidelines or legal regulations.
Less meeting expenditure
Regularly administrative and employee's meetings can be carried out via video conference: from location to location, from building to building or from floor to floor. Participation is clearly facilitated, and presence figures accordingly increase.
Environment protection
Lower travel expenditures are tantamount to a better CO2 balance.
