3 Trends in Video-Based Medical Education

[Cara Daly (cara_daly)]

We’re at the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) event in Baltimore this week, and there’s a huge focus on prevention and wellness.  The aging population worldwide is dealing with chronic diseases or common health risks like obesity, smoking, congestive heart disease, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and high blood pressure.  Today’s healthcare providers are focusing on prevention and wellness programs, population management and practitioner education. 

Healthcare organizations who take advantage of the rise of multimedia, social media, and media analytics will have a clear advantage in addressing these major challenges.  Here’s a look at the applications driving adoption of video content management in healthcare:

Patient Education - Patients are searching for answers to their medical questions, and becoming more engaged in their own care. Therefore, patients need to be able to participate in medical education from their homes or from mobile solutions.  To address this need, healthcare providers are establishing patient-facing video portals with rich media content, including “how-to” tutorials and instructional materials.  For example, healthcare providers may create content to support transitions of care into the home after release from the hospital, or a how-to video on testing blood sugar levels at home.

Population Management -   Population management in this context means systematically addressing the common risk factors or diseases by utilizing outreach programs to help guide and manage the problem. The challenge lies in reaching out to large populations effectively to really create a change in population behavior.  To address this challenge, healthcare providers are creating compelling video content in order to influence patients’ lifestyle choices and behaviors.  Prevention and wellness are key themes in these types of content portals.

Practitioner Education - Practitioners require medical education to maintain their medical licenses, and require access to educational information from their offices, homes and from mobile solutions. Asynchronous video-based training and video triggered testing, plus viewership tracking and compliance measurements are the most effective way to engage medical staffers, often working shifts.

If you are attending ATA 2014 in Baltimore, please visit the Polycom booth (# 4412). Look for me or for Ron Emerson who recently posted a blog titled “Nurses the unsung heroes of Telehealth”