How Technology is Helping Healthcare Systems Fight The Global Pandemic

Since the early 2000s, healthcare and technology providers globally have been challenged with creating a reliable infrastructure to promote affordable and universal access to healthcare. Through a robust network of technology providers, as well as financial, organizational, human and healthcare resources, all working in unison, this has resulted in a significant spike in digital and Ehealth adoption in many parts of the world.

An Immediate Need Drives Accelerated Adoption

This is especially true now, in the midst of the current global pandemic, which has forced an accelerated digital transformation within the healthcare industry. With social distancing guidelines and transmission precautions limiting in-person interactions, the healthcare community is pushing boundaries with technology to create custom telemedicine solutions that enable them to deliver a compliant, secure and flexible patient care experience.

Across the world, technology has been and continues to make remote healthcare possible for those in need and those on the front lines, battling the crisis head on. Hospitals and healthcare facilities, now stretched to capacity, have been successfully deploying cutting edge technology like AI-based predictive analytics to expand resources and secure video telemedicine solutions to limit face-to-face interactions and reduce the risk of infection. 

Leveraging APIs to Meet Specific Needs in Time of Crisis

Time is of essence when dealing with health emergencies. In Tel Aviv, local hospitals such as Shaare Zedek medical center leveraged Vonage’s Communications Services Platform to build telehealth systems from scratch, very quickly at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vonage R&D and product management teams worked around the clock with these healthcare facilities to customize Vonage’s video conference solution to provide medical professionals with the tools to activate virtual, video consultations with their patients remotely. Additionally, Vonage converted the platform into Hebrew to ensure seamless and personal patient care during this time of great need. 

Within days, the hospital’s telehealth system was in place, delivering first-rate and personalized remote care to countless patients, using real-time video chat. With the Vonage Video API, these doctors, therapists and healthcare providers can now securely communicate with patients via video consultation to evaluate, diagnose and treat them from the safety of their homes.

The flexibility and customization capabilities of the Vonage Video API also enabled the hospital to implement “lock and secure” features that allow healthcare providers to grant and limit access to ongoing meetings, ensuring privacy and security of patient information, and SMS / text message invitations for future follow ups and ongoing care.

With so much uncertainty for those who don’t know where to turn when symptoms or concerns arise, this solution provides healthcare professionals with a safe alternative to in-person consultations and patients with an easy way to get answers from a medical professional fast. We are proud to work with healthcare facilities all over the world, leveraging our technology with their medical expertise to combat the global health crisis.