When most people think of telemedicine they’d be forgiven for imagining some awkward videoconference encounter in which a doctor attempts to give a patient a formal diagnosis – despite the intermittent sound and blurry picture.

While the issues have largely been technology- rather than healthcare-based in these situations, things have changed significantly in recent years. And given how stretched medical resources are right now – particularly on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic – this could be telemedicine’s breakthrough moment thanks to the efficiencies it provides.

Acceleration & Adaptation

As we’ve discussed previously, we’re currently seeing an accelerated adoption of telemedicine initiatives. As hospitals minimise the number of non-essential and essential staff, any solution that can be used in conjunction with social distancing or self-isolation is of great value.

However, even though lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease up many countries, there won’t be an overnight return to normality. It’ll be some time before hospitals are able to fully relinquish ORs from their current ICU status – meaning much more efficiency will be needed.

As a result, many medtech companies are now realising they’ll need to adapt the way they traditionally provide their consultancy services: in the short and long term.

Tackling The Inefficiencies

Thinking about medtech sales more generally – even before coronavirus – the industry was battling an inefficient legacy service model. The fact a single rep would service several accounts at once – often travelling between two locations for single surgeries – meant that resources were already stretched.

Also, given the expense of training these medtech reps, the level of expertise they have, the fact their expertise isn’t scalable, and the high value/low productivity nature of the tasks they perform, the inefficiencies quickly mount up. And considering how more and more hospitals are imposing stricter rules on who can have access to patients, things are set to get even more complicated.

Doing More With Less

This is exactly what telemedicine can help resolve. With a solution like our surgical proximity platform and Smart Surgery Glasses, not only can medtech professionals offer remote consultations during procedures, they can also provide their expertise from a single location.

Less travel and an increase in remote work means more consultations are possible. If medtech specialists can service both large ORs with multiple surgeries and smaller hospitals with a single case, nobody loses out.

As it becomes clear that both hospitals and medtech companies can do more with less, the case for telemedicine is a forgone conclusion. Simple set up, stable hardware, and secure software, all make for a much more efficient and cost effective solution than in-person consultations.

By removing legacy bottlenecks, numerous efficiencies are possible and a better level of service is possible all round – effectively from anywhere in the world.

Due to the current crisis, we are getting lots of enquiries here at Rods&Cones. Our aim is to help and support as many people as we can, so if you have an immediate need for our Smart Surgery Glasses, please contact us (info@rods-cones.com) to ensure we can plan and assign products in the most effective way.