Main drivers for collaboration in healthcare in 2015

[Sonal Bisht (Sonal Bisht)]

It seems to be only a few years ago when the founding fathers of Polycom got thinking about ways to resolve communications challenges for businesses. Fast forward to now, collaboration technology has penetrated deep into the roots of vertical industries, including healthcare. We organised a Twitter chat on the importance of healthcare collaboration technology on 19 May 2015 that brought a few interesting themes to surface. These are found to be the main drivers for the healthcare UC industry and are leading to the growth in the demand of technology.

Video is not a fiscal strategy

Our world revolves around money and it is fair to say that finance keeps us going about with our businesses. Video collaboration technology can prove beneficial for organisations in many ways and classing the usage as one of the fiscal strategies ranks lowest on the list. Technology was created to resolve challenges and in healthcare being able to provide the specialist care efficiently is what matters the most. It is a question of whether you want the healthcare system to ‘work harder’ or ‘work smarter’.  

Video extends access to healthcare consultations

Limited access to healthcare is an issue that is posing a bigger challenge for healthcare providers and patients. Specialist hospitals are mainly located in large cities so care can be extended to those in need. No doubt about the choice of location, given that cities are well connected with good public transport links allowing patients easy access to the services. The efficiency of this setup becomes questionable when a remotely based patient needs a 15-minute consultation that in some cases can also save lives. As a result, hours long journey for a short healthcare consultation appointment can severely disrupt the balance of patients’ work, personal life and health. In some cases, a video consultation can easily be conducted at a local clinic or hospital eliminating the need to visit the far away specialist hospital.

Video is not just for patients but also for healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals are also one of the main beneficiaries of video collaboration technology. It goes without saying that video collaboration allows professionals across all industries to manage their work and personal lives. However, sometimes health comes in the way and affects the mobility of professionals but not their professional ability. This is where healthcare consultants find video to be extremely useful as they can still complete their day jobs without a hassle. With the many advances in technology, progressive medical equipment can be easily integrated with video collaboration systems to create the workplace of the future for healthcare.

We are already witnessing a growth in demand of telemedicine – a recent report revealed that the market is expected to grow by 18.4% during 2014-2020.  The modernisation of healthcare systems is inevitable pre-requisite to the future of healthier and safer world.

You can view all of the video responses to #PolycomChat on Polycom Europe’s FaceBook page.  

The #PolycomChat panel boasted of healthcare industry experts, including:

• Andrew Graley, EMEA Director Healthcare, Government and Education at Polycom (@AndrewGraley)
• Mark Evans, Commercial Director at Imerja (@Mark_J_Evans) 
• Veronica Southern, Director at Telerehab Speech & Language Therapy, who was an NHS Extended Scope Practitioner, Principal Speech and Language Therapist (Rehabilitation), until recently (@TeleRehabSLT)