Telemedicine adoption has been on the rise for several years, addressing the healthcare needs of remote communities, access to key medical specialties in distant locations, and expanding mental health therapy options for patients. Already a growth market expected to top US$130 billion by 2025, the global telemedicine industry is even further in the spotlight thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only are well established telehealth offerings from hospital networks being heavily utilized, but additional organizations and state governments have also ramped up telehealth services, such as the online COVID-19 screening tool introduced last month that Massachusetts residents can use at no charge. The ultimate goal, of course, is to provide a safe alternative to in-person visits and reduce exposure to the virus. To succeed, however, companies must make sure that their technology infrastructure will provide both patients and healthcare professionals with a flawless experience.
For one hospital we work with, taking those steps proved crucial. As governments issued orders for social distancing, the hospital saw use and volume of its telemedicine application quadruple over a two-week period. With the dramatic change in demand, gaining access to the application became an issue for some patients. As patients struggled to make appointments or dial in for sessions, the hospital realized it needed to ramp up support for this new normal. Read on to see how NETSCOUT service assurance helped IT staff rapidly pinpoint and fix the source of the trouble.
Haggerty is associate vice president, product and solutions marketing, NETSCOUT.