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 “A little bit later would have caused more damage to the patient.”

How many times have you said that sentence to the patient’s relatives? And why do you feel the need to say that such things could occur in the first place? Not because the family members took too much time to reach the hospital but because they didn’t know what to do in case of emergencies except to run to the hospital.
Hospital emergencies are frequent these days; so frequent that doctors can’t meet all their patients. It’s nearly impossible to answer each call. The situation gets worse when required doctors are unavailable. Data shows that emergencies increase on Saturday and Sunday nights.

Not to worry! With technology flying at such a fast pace, solutions are right around the corner. What if you could connect with your patients or colleagues at any time, from any corner of the world? What if you could instruct patients on what to do at the exact moment they need help?

Oh, yes—that’s possible! Thanks to VoIP.

VoIP for Healthcare Organizations

VoIP is transforming traditional call systems into internet-based phone systems. It offers seamless communication between doctors, patients, and colleagues at any time from anywhere.

Emergencies create a high-risk environment for doctors and patients. Communication gaps leave a negative impact on patients’ health—especially in the first hour of trauma. With VoIP at the center of the entire communication process, health organizations can successfully close the gap and flourish.

Here are four ways that VoIP adds value to the urgent cases of healthcare organizations:-

1. Seamless Connection and Communication in Emergencies

The core part of healthcare organizations lies in being available in case of emergencies. We are living in a world where anything can break communication. The unavailability of networks or resources is the key factor behind patients being unable to connect with doctors.
VoIP has come into existence to remove this barrier and offer an unbreakable connection. Whereas traditional phone lines rely on wires to connect one person to the other, VoIP operates through the internet; these wires are invisible and indestructible.

The internet allows you to connect with anyone at anytime from anywhere. We have already seen the magic of communication through WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media apps. VoIP brings the power of unbreakable, social-media-like connection to your communications system.

After integrating VoIP, nobody will be out of contact with anyone, and urgent care will become a piece of cake!

2. Reduces Telecommunications Costs by 50%

Who says technology is costly? When thinking of upgrading from traditional systems to advanced technological systems, healthcare organizations are worried about skyrocketing costs. Small clinics, rural hospitals, and public health departments are even more worried about upgrading to a tech-based system, due to cost factors.
Now, tell me—do you ever consider your smartphone a luxury? In fact, don’t you think that it is a reasonable way to handle communication while enjoying other activities, like music, games, and even productivity apps?

VoIP belongs to a similar, reasonable, cost-saving category. Healthcare organizations that have begun using VoIP have claimed to have saved 50% in telecommunications costs. The claim is true because of three essential characteristics of VoIP:-

• Pay-As-You-Go Model: Whether you use traditional phones or not, you have to pay for the service in-house. VoIP, on the other hand, follows a pay-as-go model, in which you pay only for the calls that you make.
• Cloud-Based Communications: Because VoIP works on a cloud-based communications system, it eliminates all the capital expenditure of traditional phone lines (e.g., wires, circuits, etc.).
• No More Location Charges: Traditional phone lines charge you based on the location that you are calling. Local calls mean less charges, while international calls cost a fortune. VoIP’s internet calls are not bound by local or international calls. The charges are either equal, or you will find little difference between the costs, which saves a huge margin.

3. Deliver an Excellent Patient Experience

Imagine that a patient’s relative called you and told you about the patient’s condition. They are sweating and choking profusely. It will take half an hour to reach the hospital. Meanwhile, you instruct the relative what to do on a video call, such as rubbing the patient’s back or giving them a sip of water in intervals. In this instance, the patient receives adequate first-response care and is further taken care of when they reach the hospital.

How would you define this situation?

Excellent patient service! Isn’t that what urgent care is all about? VoIP gives you the freedom to connect to anyone via multiple channels. No matter if it’s a video call or a voice call, VoIP offers a connection to everything at the moment you need it.

Another patient benefit of VoIP is that it will never allow you to miss a single call. Suppose you are busy with some other patient.VoIP will reroute the call to another line, where another doctor is free to attend to the patient. And if you are on a beach vacation when your patient needs you, then VoIP will create a connection there, too. 

4. Enhance Productivity and Efficiency

Healthcare service providers are multitaskers. One moment, they are giving you medication; the next moment, they are talking to another patient and trying to understand their problem. Of course, they follow this procedure to manage increasing responsibilities, but they do not realize that it leads to the diminishing power of their productivity and efficiency.

As a result, they make mistakes, giving the wrong medication or misdiagnosis. At the end of the day, they just want to run far away from everything.

Just like your smartphone offers various productivity apps to keep you on the cutting-edge, VoIP is furnished with productivity-enhancing features, which allow clinicians to work smart, not hard.

For example, if they remain connected to patients and staff members via VoIP phone service, they can call them, forward the call and delegate some tasks while focusing on others themselves. They can connect diagnosed patients to doctors who can treat them as soon as possible. At the end of the day, all tasks will be finished or taken care of, and they can go home with an accomplished smile on their faces.

Are You Ready?

Healthcare is a high-stress, demanding job. Each day, you will be scheduled to talk to new faces, solve new problems, speak to nurses, contact mobile workers, and share your learning experience. The traditional phone system takes more time to finish these tasks, while VoIP connects you to anyone in moments, thereby saving costs for another healthcare purpose. Which will you choose?