Bluestream Health is more than just telehealth or telemedicine: we make virtual care possible. Clinics and hospitals use Bluestream Health to operate virtual calls and appointments in a more flexible way that fit their pre-existing workflows. Virtual-first care creates better patient experiences and more efficient workflows. When done well, virtual care suits how hospitals and clinics actually run.
The Difference Between Telehealth and Virtual-first Healthcare
People often use the terms “telehealth” and “virtual care” interchangeably. But these terms actually differ in their strategic approach and methods.
Telehealth has been around for decades and primarily involves using a telephone. For example, parents call 24/7 nurse hotlines to ask general questions about their sick or injured children. Telehealth focuses more on using a specific method–such as a telephone or streaming video–to deliver care. This is an old and limiting way of looking at healthcare. It doesn’t allow clinicians to access their patients wherever they are most comfortable.
On the other hand, virtual-first healthcare is problem-oriented and patient-centric.
Virtual-first care could use a mobile device, a landline, video, or all of the above in a single visit. Every aspect of a virtual-first care visit is designed to operate seamlessly in an environment that both the clinician and the patient are comfortable in. Clinicians can easily access a patient’s medical history before, during, and after appointments to schedule further preventive or follow-up in-person care.
Virtual-first care mirrors in-person healthcare visits, often using technology to enrich the sessions in ways that in-person care cannot.
Bluestream Health’s Virtual-First Healthcare
Bluestream Health is transforming the way healthcare is delivered by helping organizations accelerate their transition to value-based virtual care. Our API and patented provisioning engine are designed to integrate easily within existing and future EHRs. While many EHRs tout their ability to integrate or to offer virtual services, in practice they often add to the physician workload, confuse patients, or require expensive contracts to enable their version of interoperability.
We provide small- to large-sized health organizations virtual-based care quickly. Our platform is low-cost and can go live in weeks instead of months. Our solution comes with HIPAA-compliant data storage. During a Bluestream virtual appointment, clinicians can easily add other specialists, interpreters, family members, or other third-party services. With Bluestream Health, four or more participants can join a single call.
See Bluestream Health in action.
Schedule a demo with Bluestream Health for a glimpse into the future of healthcare through the contact form below.