Healthcare professionals are some of the front-liners of the current worldwide pandemic, providing the utmost care for those affected by COVID-19 by risking their lives for the sake of others. This has created a more complex working environment for them, which means that they should have easy access to tools that enable and promote collaboration.
These tools should be flexible and convenient to help deliver the best care for their patient, help them connect with each other and do normal routine check-ups, as well as relaying information of patients who need urgent care.
Office 365 introduces several tools that will help care teams effectively collaborate and communicate with each other, leaving no gaps between clinicians and administrators and enables them to deliver the same high-quality work.
Microsoft Teams: Virtual Visits Made Easy
Since in-person doctor visits are still generally restricted, video conferencing can provide a personalized and more affordable consultation process. This is especially convenient for patients with mobility issues, compromised immune systems, or those who are living in areas that are lacking healthcare facilities.
Microsoft Teams has the platform of a complete meeting that can be combined with its new Bookings app. This means that providers will be able to schedule, manage, and conduct virtual visits with patients.
This is how it works: When a virtual visit is scheduled in Teams, the patient receives an email with their appointment details and a link to join the appointment either conveniently from their web browser or the Teams mobile app.
Judith Vincent, a specialist nurse from the Epilepsy Clinic at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS foundation trust, attests to its convenience – “It’s very easy to set up the virtual appointments. I can schedule an appointment. An email goes out to the patient with the appointment date and time.”
For someone like Judith with 400 patients who are mostly children, this saves up time spent on travel for families, and patients can receive care immediately in the comfort of their homes. She also finds it easy to observe her patients through the visual cues that they present on screen.
Introducing: Microsoft Compliance Score (Preview)
Microsoft Compliance score (preview) is available for all enterprise and business plans to reduce risk and support compliance with regulatory requirements. Healthcare organizations can use this to simplify their compliance by scanning Office 365 environments to detect system settings.
It can also provide guidance and enhance compliance posture against the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
Testimonials on the Benefits of Office 365 and Microsoft Teams
- Northwell Health, New York’s largest healthcare provider. Their employees utilize teams to help transform patient care coordination, resulting in shorter hospital stays and improved patient outcomes.
- UK National Health Service (NHS) Calderdale and Huddersfield foundation trust for epilepsy and oncology care. They conduct virtual visits using teams, saving valuable travel time for both doctors and patients. Microsoft Teams has helped them increased the quality of their care and reduced their costs.
- Cerner Corporation, a company focused on healthcare innovation. With locations in 26 countries, Teams help their associates work smarter to innovate healthcare with Office 365.
Office 365 Invests in Healthcare Innovation
The landscape of healthcare is rapidly changing, and Office 365 is here to make these changes easier for both healthcare workers and patients. Partnering with healthcare organizations, industry associations, and technology providers help navigate such challenges.
The following applications are part of this vision: Innovacer, creator of a care management app that personalizes care and integrates teams for healthcare organizations, is integrating care management and coordination into Microsoft Teams to reduce redundant tasks and increase communication.
Imprivata, a leader in healthcare digital identity and access management that builds on the seamless Sign-On (SSO) innovation has partnered with Office 365 to support “badge-tap” access to make secure sign-on to apps, whether on premise or in the cloud, more efficient. By simply tapping their badge to be authenticated, it logs them directly into and out of Teams instead of using a username or password.
The Future of Healthcare
Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, the world has continued to thrive through online communities and facilities. Wireless technology is more readily available than ever, so it only makes sense for families to take advantage of telemedicine which is slowly becoming accessible for all.
For healthcare workers, this is the best way for them to deliver the same high-quality service while keeping themselves and patients risk and worry-free. For a clinic, this means they can work at their preferred hours, with possibly more clients, at lower costs.
With more innovations in healthcare coming, your partner in telemedicine, Office 365, is here to help. Empower care teams now with the tools by Office 365 to provide high-quality care that customers need and deserve.
Sources:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/03/06/empowering-care-teams-with-new-tools-in-microsoft-365/
