Telehealth, Virtual Clinics and Artificial Intelligence are radically transforming the healthcare experience.
4 Ways Virtual Clinics and AI Are Revolutionizing Healthcare
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, traditional healthcare is facing a number of important challenges.
A lack of staff and resources, coupled with the fear of Covid outbreaks, are exerting tremendous pressure on hospitals and care providers.
As a result, patients are experimenting with remote solutions such as Telehealth, virtual consultations between doctors and patients.
In July 2021, McKinsey reported that overall telehealth utilization in April 2020 for office visits and outpatient care was 78 times higher than in February 2020.
While the use of remote solutions is stabilizing, the telehealth and healthcare IT market is in full bloom and expected to reach $390 billion by 2024.
Coupled with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, telehealth has the potential to radically transform and improve the overall healthcare experience.
One of telehealth’s most impressive innovations is the Virtual AI Clinic.
Virtual AI Clinics are online platforms that combine AI technology and human expertise to provide remote access to healthcare. A combination of AI, machine learning, biosensors and telecommunication technology provides patients with efficient remote virtual treatment from virtually anywhere in the world.
Until now, Virtual Clinics were used mostly for meetings and consultations, check-ins and status reports. However, thanks to AI, Virtual Clinics are enabling doctors to provide in-depth diagnosis and personalized treatments to patients.
Here are 4 ways that Virtual AI Clinics will revolutionize traditional healthcare.
1 – Virtual Clinics Offer A More Comfortable Experience
A Virtual AI Clinic’s greatest competitive advantage over traditional healthcare is its ability to provide a more comfortable and convenient experience for patients.
Thanks to remote access, virtual consultations take place in the comfort of patient’s own home.
This eliminates the following inconveniences:
- Uncomfortable trips to specialized facilities.
- Long wait times in jam-packed waiting rooms.
- The need to stay overnight in healthcare institutions.
- Risk of contracting illness due to proximity with other patients.
Now, a patient simply connects to the Virtual Clinic for his scheduled appointment and speaks with his doctor in real-time. This is especially useful for elderly patients who require regular medical attention.
However, Virtual Clinics do more than simply connecting patients with doctors.
These state of the art platforms leverage the power of AI technology to enable patients to share important medical information with their doctors and specialists.
2 – AI Provides Virtual Clinics With Real-Time Data Analysis
Virtual AI Clinics enable instantaneous data collection and analysis.
This is made possible thanks to sophisticated connected wearable technology.
Wearables are a booming industry: PwC data reveals that 49% of the US population owns a wearable device and by 2022, the wearable device market is expected to exceed $27 billion.
Naturally, this trend is spreading to the healthcare sector.
Connected wearable devices offer the possibility to collect and analyze a patient’s medical data in real time.
Wearables have the potential to significantly improve patient outcomes.
By monitoring physical health and equipping doctors with data they might not otherwise had access to.
Connected wearable technology for healthcare includes smart devices such as digital stethoscopes, oximeters, glucose meters, EKGs and other Bluetooth enabled devices.
These wearables perform a wide variety of critical functions:
- Measure physical activity and gauge cardiovascular health (monitor fitness levels, stress levels, early signs of illness or health issues).
- Continuous monitoring of heart rate, blood pressure, glucose and EKG.
- Fall detection, a functionality which is especially useful in the elderly population.
Connected wearable technology uploads a patient’s data to the Virtual Clinic’s platform and stores it in the database. That way, the data can be consulted by any doctor or specialist using the platform, ensuring that the patient’s personal medical information is always accessible. If the patient changes care provider, there is no loss of information during the transition.
Thanks to Virtual Clinics, patients no longer have to book appointments at laboratories for samples and seek in-person consultations with physicians to analyze the data.
All of these services can be rendered remotely and digitally.
Once a patient’s data is uploaded into the Virtual Clinic’s platform, AI software is then able to automate time-consuming tasks with incredible efficiency.
Ultimately, connected wearable technology will play an integral role in remote chronic disease management, diagnosis and treatment.
3 – AI Automates Time Consuming Tasks
AI technology is transforming healthcare by automating administrative tasks that typically require human intelligence.
Here are two of its benefits for Virtual Clinics.
Administrative Tasks are Streamlined
Typically, when patients have questions regarding general health issues, they call their healthcare provider and ask to speak with an expert.
This is very inefficient because it takes up valuable time that would be better used treating patients.
AI-powered virtual chatbots provide a convenient solution to this problem.
These chatbots are able to perform administrative duties and provide general healthcare information to patients:
- Schedule recurring appointments.
- Shorten wait times.
- Limit processing inconveniences.
- Streamline administrative workflows.
- Connect patients directly to specialists.
- Provide information about general health topics.
In addition, AI is used to power virtual therapy chatbots to help patients battle mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. One of their key selling points is that they are accessible 24/7, 365 days a year. Thus, patients in need of urgent medical assistance simply connect to the platform and receive immediate service.
Validate E-prescriptions
AI-powered software holds tremendous potential for the prescription industry.
According to Reportlinker, the global e-prescription market is expected to exceed $1 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 21%.
Virtual Clinics leverage the power of AI to automate the prescription process.
Big data analytics and machine learning algorithms are capable of analyzing large-scale EMRs data. The software will analyze all of the patient’s medical data and determine the correct opioid dosage for the treatment in question.
This improves accuracy and efficiency because the software is able of analyzing massive quantities of data almost instantaneously.
The human brain is not capable of analyzing comparable amounts of data as quickly or consistently as the AI software.
Thus, AI software saves time, reduces human error and increases the accuracy of services.
4 – Virtual Clinics Extend Healthcare Services
Finally, Virtual AI Clinics will extend healthcare coverage to areas in dire need of medical services.
A 2017 report published by the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program found that rural populations in the USA have more uninsured residents under age 65 and higher rates of mortality than urban populations.
In addition, rural residents must travel long distances to reach care providers, which results in longer wait time for emergency medical services. In some cases, patients have to travel upwards of 200 miles to access care providers.
Virtual AI Clinics solve this problem.
Indeed, rural populations will now only require an internet connection to access general physicians and specialists. Thanks to wearables, they will be able to share their data in real time and enjoy the same qualitative experience as anyone else.
Truly, Virtual AI Clinics will revolutionize all aspects of traditional healthcare.
About the Author
Michael Megarit is the founder and managing partner of Cebron Group.
With over 25 years of domestic and international corporate finance experience,
he has provided M&A and capital advisory to high-growth technology companies
seeking investments and buyers.