If there is one sector where technological developments have a major impact on us all, it is healthcare. The corona crisis has even accelerated our knowledge and acceptance of e-health. Take, for example, e-consultations at the family doctor’s office. Whereas many Dutch people have come to consider it quite normal to meet and consult online on a daily basis within a year, video calling with the GP is also much more common now than a few years ago. More and more patients and GPs are discovering the benefits of a video consultation. Especially if you know that this is done via a secure and encrypted connection. And SMS takes care of that.
More and more family doctors and other healthcare providers are using video calling with their patients; they see and speak to each other via a secure connection at an agreed upon date and time. The global corona crisis has contributed considerably to the accelerated acceptance of remote medical consultation. In many cases it was (and is) a good alternative to a regular visit to the family doctor. And many people have experienced it that way.
But an e-consultation is not something you just schedule. For serious complaints or physical examination, as a doctor you want to meet the patient in the consulting room and examine them. Just like with complaints that may have a psychological cause, or with emergencies. In these cases, it is better to see and speak to each other in person. However, there are still plenty of situations where the benefits of video calling are many times greater than a physical visit to the doctor.
The ‘e’ in the word e-consultation stands for ‘electronic’ but could very well stand for ‘easy’ as well. Not only because the more ‘simple’ complaints can often be diagnosed via an e-consult. But also because video calling is simple in many ways. For example, the following diagnoses and treatments lend themselves well to an electronic consultation:
It is also not inconceivable that, in the future, a general practitioner’s office will use a video link to make an initial diagnosis when, for example, someone is at a great distance. Or if transportation is a problem for some other reason. So a remote call or diagnosis is not always a good alternative, but in a number of cases the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. It is already a fact that e-consults will continue to be part of the service of an increasing number of general practitioners even after the corona crisis, both for the young target group and the older patients. When making the appointment, the general practitioner or assistant will decide, in consultation with the patient, what it will be: a live appointment in the general practice or an online call where the patient can log in via SMS at home via a secure connection.
This last point (guaranteed privacy) is obviously an important issue for patients as well because during an e-consultation both personal and medical information is exchanged. This data cannot simply end up with other parties without legal permission. Patients therefore benefit from a secure connection during video calls. But how do patients and physicians know that the information is being transferred in a secure manner? The answer is simple and contains only three letters: SMS.
The use of SMS in healthcare leads to many good things every day.
SMS service is also an indispensable link in video calling between GP and patient. How it works. Two Factor Authentication (2FA) and a One Time Password (OTP) via an SMS message provide extra secure and encrypted connections when entering an online space. In a very accessible way. Because an SMS arrives quickly on your mobile, via the phone line (so you don’t need wifi or 4G). And only after entering the code is the connection made. SMS authentication is the way to send one-time passwords and login codes. All data is encrypted, not only during transmission but also ‘at rest’ (disk encryption for database storage).
OTP and 2FA via an SMS message are effective security methods, as this technique has already amply proven. Also in e-health, such as video consultations between patient and doctor. But you can work even safer. By working with an SMS provider that has the necessary certificates in this area. And that’s where Spryng comes in. As the only SMS provider in Europe Spryng is ISO 27001 & NEN 7510 certified.
ISO 27001 is the world standard for information security. The NEN certification is specifically for information security in healthcare. It is intended for healthcare institutions and suppliers to deal adequately with patient data. With the ISO & NEN certificates from Spryng the safety of your data (and of your patients) is guaranteed to be in good hands.
The SMS Gateway from Spryng is standardly linked to many Multi Factor Authentication systems. So you can easily send SMS messages from your practice within minutes. Even in multiple languages !
We work closely with all major EHRs to ensure that every message (from OTP to appointment reminder) is always sent with the same high security standards. A guarantee for safe and effective communication! In short, by offering e-consults via SMS authentication, safety is a certainty and you prepare your practice for the future. Because with e-consults you do not exclude anyone: It helps older patients who are less able to come to the practice and it ensures a better connection with the younger target group.
Would you like to know how you as a GP can introduce or promote the use of e-consults? On the website of the Dutch General Practitioners Association is the practical handbook “ E-consultation, how do we arrange that ?”.
This is free to download. As well as our whitepaper on SMS in healthcare
Did you know that SMS service not only enables video consultations in a safe way? You can also reduce the number of ‘no-shows’ with one simple SMS API. Quite easily, by sending an automatic appointment confirmation and appointment reminder via SMS to your patients. Spryng has been working for many healthcare institutions (from large hospitals to small dental practices) for years to reduce the number of ‘no-shows’ .
With success! Would you like to offer this service to your clients or patients as well? Please contact Spryng for more information. Or try for yourself how easy our SMS API works in healthcare, with a free test account .
Would you like an immediate quote for our SMS services? Click here . You can also contact Spryng for other questions.
All developments in the field of e-health and messaging with your patients clearly in your mailbox. You can do this with the free digital newsletter from Spryng. This appears about six times a year and can be cancelled at any time.