Telemedicine is becoming ubiquitous, particularly since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Even as the most devastating effects of COVID-19 seem to be receding, this practice of care providers meeting with patients remotely over the phone or via video is continuing to grow. There is no time like the present to learn about what is currently driving the telemedicine industry forward.

Payments solutions.

Technology is doing more than facilitating remote doctor-patient interactions. It’s also making it possible for patients to finally gain the same flexibility, security, and control when resolving medical bills that they possess as retail consumers.

To that end, there now are a wide variety of merchant accounts for telehealth businesses for practices and facilities to choose from. The gold-standard options provide customers with the ability to use various forms of payment, even including recurring and delayed billing. They also allow a patient to enter payment details at the time of their telemedicine visit that are not activated until the exact amount of the charges is known post-insurance company adjudication. If you are looking for a telemedicine payment provider, be sure to demand reasonable costs, multiple payment options, and prompt, responsive customer service.

Trend 1: Embedded health records.

These days, patients’ electronic health records (EHR) are available to all practitioners within and even between medical organizations. This is making for more streamlined care with less data duplication and easier claims scheduling with insurance providers.

Trend 2: Internet of medical things.

Today’s medical software can be placed in apps and devices that patients use and wear, giving doctors ready access to health results even at a distance. These include smart inhalers, beds, and ECG and EKG monitors.

Trend 3: Big data and analytics.

Technology is also making it easier and safer for healthcare businesses like yours to store your patients’ personal information and demographic details. This makes for a higher standard of care with less duplication and fewer errors.

Trend 4: Augmented and virtual reality.

These technologies are making numerous innovations possible that are revolutionizing patient care. They include accurate body scans, more precise diagnoses, teaching complex procedures to medical students remotely, and monitoring how a patient reacts to a specific treatment.

Trend 5: Robotic process automation.

RPA can help you optimize the efficiency of your telemedicine business. These solutions are becoming increasingly popular in the realms of appointment scheduling, administrative tasks, and data management. Although they should be combined with human interactions to ensure that patients will continue to have an effective working rapport with the people in your practice, they are becoming some of the most cost-effective and efficient methods of completing basic business tasks.

Whether you are looking for a telemedicine payment provider or researching how you can join in on the virtual reality and RPA trends, one thing is clear: Telemedicine is here to stay. The technologies that are moving it forward are allowing for better and more accurate care for an increasingly far-flung and diverse pool of patients. In the years to come, the innovations in this expanding field are sure to continue to be exciting, ground-breaking, and patient-centered.

Contact NAB today and see how easy it is to get the merchant services you deserve.