There continues to be significant demand for medical services throughout the country. Indeed, there are many areas considered to be healthcare deserts. While this is a problem that needs to be addressed, it also presents opportunities to fill these needs either as an independent physician or as a thriving medical corporation.

 

SwissCognitive Guest Blogger: Sam Bowman – “Building a Modern Medical Practice Using AI and Telehealth Tech”


 

Yet, it’s important to understand that the healthcare landscape has changed significantly in recent years. Patients expect a variety of convenient care options from their medical practices. While we’re still some way off from medical robots visiting patients at home, there is still an emphasis on utilizing technological tools. In most cases, this currently involves the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and telehealth tech. Not only can this help meet the needs of patients, but it can also bolster your burgeoning practice.

We’re going to take a closer look at some key elements of building a modern medical practice using AI and telehealth tech.

Gain Clarity on Patient Needs

One of the key advantages of utilizing AI tech to build a modern medical practice is the ability to be more targeted in your approach. After all, you’re likely to have some specific aims for your practice. This may be with regard to the types of services you offer or gaps in the market you want to fill. AI can help you to better understand where your practice and the market can effectively align.

Remember, at its heart, AI is a data analysis and utilization tool. One of its best applications is in taking large volumes of information and interpreting it for you and your practice staff to respond to. As such, in the beginning, it can be used for you to establish what the specific needs of patients in your area are. The software can empower you to understand whether there is a demand for what you’re bringing to the market or what geographical areas your approach may improve access to care.


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This shouldn’t just form part of your activities in the initial creation of your business, either. AI can also be an invaluable predictive tool. Many public health services are already adopting platforms to assess patient demand for services and forecast future needs to allocate resources accordingly. You can take a similar approach to both your local market and individual practice. Utilizing AI predictive tools can help you more accurately plan your practice growth. It also ensures you can prepare the resources to meet the changing care requirements of patients rather than simply responding to unexpected demands.

Consider Tools for Specialized Care

General practice can be a positive component of any healthcare landscape. However, meeting the varied and often complex needs of patients requires a more agile approach. This is why many modern medical practices are incorporating a wider range of services into their business models. AI and telehealth can support and drive this.

One potential area of expansion here could be therapy services. For small practices, it may be wise to consider the viability of a telehealth therapy model. This can certainly depend on a range of factors, including whether telehealth is covered under local client insurance and whether the software utilized is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant. Nevertheless, if your clients are the right fit for this method, your practice can be active in helping patients manage their physical and mental wellness conveniently.

Your specialist telehealth care services can be made more effective by incorporating AI into your methods and infrastructure, too. One of the most valuable ways you can apply this is in improving diagnostic accuracy. The availability of large data sets on symptom information alongside patient history enables integrated AI platforms to provide diagnostic insights in real-time to physicians. This means that not only can patients access a range of virtual care options, but there is the potential to improve quality as a result of underlying machine learning tools.

Educate and Inform

Among the responsibilities of any modern medical practice is to educate and inform its patients. In most cases, this is performed with online materials. This means that your practice needs to create and maintain an effective website. It is also becoming increasingly common to provide a mobile application that functions both as an informational tool and an integrated telehealth or remote patient monitoring platform. While this can seem like a daunting prospect, AI can be an important part of web development processes.

Firstly, it’s vital to look at the underlying structures of your materials. All effective websites and mobile applications rely on strong information architecture as their foundations. Modern medical practices must create their materials with an understanding of how their design choices impact user experience. This includes patients’ ability to navigate the online tools and understand them. Integrated AI tools can help here through automated quality assurance protocols. The testing software reviews the coding and architecture of tools and highlights potential problem areas and bugs.

AI monitoring tools can also be at the heart of the ongoing improvement and maintenance of these vital educational, informational, and telehealth tools. Software consistently scans websites and applications, gathering data on functionality and security issues. It can also provide insights into how patients are using the site or application and provide recommendations for improvements. Indeed, by integrating an AI-powered chatbot into the site, your practice can gain information on regularly queried terms and ensure your site can be updated with the most relevant information to your client base.

Conclusion

AI and telehealth technology both have key roles to play in building a modern medical practice. AI data analysis and prediction methods can ensure you gain insights into the unique patient needs in your target area. Telehealth can open the door to a wider range of specialist care options, which can be supported with AI diagnostic software. AI monitoring software may also help ensure your key educational and informational materials are built on strong information architecture foundations designed to improve user experience. By committing to exploring the potential of AI and telehealth, you can provide patients with relevant, efficient, and agile care services.


About the Author:

Sam BowmanSam Bowman is a published freelance writer from the West Coast who specializes in healthcare tech and artificial intelligence content. His experience in patient care directly translates into his work and his passion for industry technologies influences the content he creates. Sam has worked for years – directly in, and writing about – healthcare technology and the many benefits it offers to patients and doctors alike. He loves to watch as medical tech and business software grow and develop, ushering in a modern age of industry.