The COVID-19 pandemic has caused healthcare institutions to make immediate changes to how patient care is handled. While telehealth is not brand new technology, its widespread use is unfamiliar to many Americans. The need for telehealth services during this time has been spurred by the influx in pressure on the healthcare system’s capacity, but also the high-rate of contagion that follows the virus.
In an effort to flatten the curve within the healthcare system, and better protect patients and providers from infection, the need for telehealth is here and now. As healthcare institutions from all corners of the country look to roll out virtual care to their patient populations, they are presented with a variety of platform options.
However, not all virtual options offer the same services and protection for patients and providers. Zoom, a teleconferencing software best known for its business use, has leveraged itself as a telehealth communications solution during this time. But how does it stack up compared to QliqSOFT’s Virtual Visits?
A Breakdown of Zoom for Telehealth
Zoom is a popular teleconferencing program used in a variety of industries throughout the world. During this pandemic, Zoom has seen a dramatic increase in users, including those from colleges and universities. With COVID-19 requiring social distancing and eliminating the ability to collect as a group, higher education has turned to Zoom to carry out learning functions for the remainder of the semester. Why is this important? It highlights the usability of Zoom but also denotes its lack of specificity for the healthcare field.
While Zoom is built with multi-layer AES-256 encryption and takes many steps to abide by HIPAA security compliance, the program is not an Electronic Health Records (EHR) program and therefore, cannot receive HIPAA certification.
The benefits of Zoom include internal system integration (EPIC), HD video and audio transmission, medical device integration, on-screen collaboration features, and recorded video session reviews.
A Breakdown of Virtual Visits from QliqSOFT
Virtual Visits is a telehealth solution specifically engineered for the healthcare industry. Built by clinicians for clinicians, Virtual Visits makes care easy and secure. Created with the same technology as Qliq, Virtual Visits is HIPAA compliant.
Virtual Visits also makes sure the patient experience is both easy and enjoyable. Patients do not have to download any applications or software to their computers or phones, but instead are able to join a secure video patient room via a URL sent by SMS text or email. Additionally, Virtual Visits is built with Quincy, a patient-focused chatbot. Quincy is able to help answer questions and direct patient needs to the correct resources.
With the rapid change in the healthcare landscape due to COVID-19, being able to see and treat patients in a timely manner is ever more important. Virtual Visits is a long-term solution that is able to be deployed across your healthcare organization in a matter of hours, not days or weeks. Seamless integration with your internal system via HL7 / FHIR / API makes the telehealth jump a quick transition.
In addition to utilizing the Quincy chatbot as a feature of Virtual Visits the other benefits of QliqSOFT's platform includes HD video and audio transmission, medical device integration, the ability to add multiple participants, integrations with live AI-driven transcription services, hand-off workflow support, the ability to add additional privacy layers on a per-patient basis, and the option for live agents/clinicians to receive notifications of new visits or pending conversations when remote.
Start Virtual Visits At Your Healthcare Institution Today
As the world leader in HIPAA compliant solutions and telehealth technology, we can help ensure your organization meets all mandate requirements and patient care needs. Contact us today at (866) 295-0451 about a free demo, or how to start implementing our technology at your health company!
