The healthcare industry is constantly innovating to improve patient outcomes with better care and more efficiency. While telehealth has been expanding over the past several years, the COVID-19 pandemic has sharply increased the demand for telehealth solutions and virtual appointments to provide patient care in a safe manner.
Microsoft Teams and Azure are key tools for advancing telehealth capabilities, both in the current healthcare landscape and beyond in a post-pandemic era.
Conduct Virtual Appointments on Microsoft Teams
One of the areas of telehealth with the most demand right now is virtual appointments. The need for virtual appointments will likely continue into the future, especially now that it has proven to be convenient and efficient for both patients and providers.
Microsoft Teams is powered by the Azure cloud. It has high-quality audio, video, and screen sharing capabilities, making it a reliable telehealth tool for conducting healthcare appointments virtually. Patients can join appointments directly from their browser or via mobile for added flexibility, and the interface makes it simple.
The Bookings app within Teams simplifies scheduling appointments and tasks. The app’s intuitive interface shows patients available appointment times and easily schedule their own virtual appointments. It can coordinate schedules between multiple clinicians so that admins can help schedule appointments if needed. Bookings can automatically send customized email notifications about appointment confirmations and reminders to patients – without needing an extra tool or manual outreach.
Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite. If your organization has current M365 or Office 365 licenses, you should have access to Teams features without additional costs or adding new platforms to manage. Microsoft is also offering a free version of Teams until June 2021 to support organizations during the pandemic as they adapt to more remote infrastructures.
Strengthen Health Team Collaboration and Enhance Patient Care
Staying connected with patients and health team members is more important than ever. Microsoft Teams enables secure communication through chat, video, voice, and an integrated hub. It’s all within one easy to use tool, to keep things streamlined for both patients and healthcare workers.
In addition to holding virtual appointments, care providers can send messages and files to patients. Patients are also able to communicate with their care providers in a quick and secure way, enabling better communication and care without the need for additional scheduling or visits.
Care providers can use Teams to communicate between health teams and members. Relaying urgent information and patient updates in real-time improves collaboration and efficiency. An example where this is especially helpful is when multiple health workers are caring for one patient; they can use Teams instant messaging or communication hubs to share test results, treatment updates, and coordinate patient care.
Securely Store and Share Information with Azure Files
Azure Files enables quick, easy, and secure file sharing. Files are encrypted to protect sensitive patient information and comply with HIPAA. Azure Files is ideal for storing and sharing critical files. The serverless file system can safely store important patient and organizational data, allowing reliable and immediate access to information needed to improve operational outcomes.
Protect PHI with Azure Security and HIPAA Compliance
Security and compliance are always a priority for healthcare solutions, but rest assured – your patients’ critical health information stored in Azure and communicated in Teams will be secure and meet HIPAA requirements.
Microsoft Azure holds the highest number of compliance certifications of any public cloud platform. It’s not only built to comply with most regional and industrial regulations but also optimized for HIPAA compliance.
Azure services also include two key features: Azure Security Center and Active Directory. Azure Security Center regularly analyzes the entire environment and detects threats. Its intuitive dashboard provides specific action items to secure potential vulnerabilities. Azure Active Directory provides a single sign-on experience with secure multi-factor authentication across cloud, mobile, and on-prem apps to help protect against unauthorized access.
Azure Telehealth Use Cases and Success Stories
Northwell Health uses Azure to build a chatbot in Teams to improve patient care
Continuous patient monitoring architecture in Azure IoT Central
Your Azure Telehealth Partner
Atmosera is here to implement or strengthen your telehealth infrastructure so that you can focus on what matters most: caring for your patients and supporting your health team. Our team of Microsoft-certified experts are ready to architect a powerful telehealth system in Azure to advance your healthcare innovation. We ensure your Azure environment is HIPAA-compliant and continuously optimized, with 24x7x365 US-based support.
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