Is White-Label Telehealth The Best Choice For Your Practice?
- John Carmody
- 0
- on Oct 26, 2021
Telehealth has evolved from being a convenient service that a small fraction of providers used under special circumstances to an essential part of many treatment programs. If you’re a healthcare provider, you’ve probably considered using telehealth to expand your practice and adapt to the new post-pandemic norms. In this article, we’ll explain how to use telehealth and compare the pros and cons of choosing a white-label telehealth solution.
What is Telehealth?
To understand what telehealth is, it’s first important to understand the difference between telehealth and telemedicine. While the two terms are often used interchangeably, telemedicine refers to the use of telecommunication technology to administer treatment to patients that are geographically separated from providers.The term telehealth on the other hand, applies to any healthcare activity conducted through telecommunications technology. [1] To read examples of real-world telehealth applications, click here.
Why Use Telehealth?
Once you’ve learned the difference between telehealth and telemedicine, you can see how beneficial a telehealth platform is for a healthcare practice in this increasingly digital age. Many telehealth platforms support streamlined billing, automated appointment scheduling, patient messaging, and EHR integration. Aside from communicating with patients via HIPAA compliant video conferencing, these platforms offer tools to help you better manage your practice.
If you’re a provider with an established brand image, you may like the idea of telehealth, but not so much the idea of having the name and logo of a third-party on the platform you’re using as part of your business. For that, there is a solution: white-label telehealth.
What is White-Labeling?
If you aren’t familiar with the term white-labeling, it refers to when a product developed by one company is rebranded and marketed by another company as its own. Many websites and marketing agencies use white-labeling to save them the time and money of having to build their own applications.
What Are the Benefits Of White Label Telehealth?
If you’re a provider looking to maintain your brand image across all channels, the most important benefit is obvious. With white-labeling, you can custom-design the user interface to reflect your brand and add your business name and logo to the dashboard..
Having a customized telehealth platform can help make patients feel more secure when choosing your organization as their healthcare provider. If your organization has the resources to acquire its own virtual care system, they’ll probably think you’re the right provider to look after their family’s health.
Within a few weeks or as little as 24 hours if you choose Beam, you can have your own virtual clinic up and running, generating revenue and reaching new patients. In fact, not only can a white-label telehealth platform help you acquire new patients, it can help you reduce churn and increase patient satisfaction. According to a recent survey, 88% of respondents who used telehealth services reported that the quality of care they received was just as good or better than an in-person appointment.
Using telehealth you can also cut down on expenses, streamline workflows, and improve access to care for many patients.
White-Label Telehealth vs. Other Options
You have three options when it comes to choosing a telehealth platform. You can white-label an existing platform, build your own, or purchase a platform from a vendor.
White-Label An Existing Platform
By choosing to use an existing platform as your own, you’ll be able to customize the interface to match your brand image and avoid the costly and time-consuming process of building your own application. However, there are some drawbacks to take into consideration.
Pros
- Custom-designed UI.
- Refined and tested functional features such as streamlined billing, appointment scheduling, and video conferencing that meets HIPAA regulations.
- Already tested and rated by patients.
Cons
- Not a proprietary technology that your business has any ownership over.
- More expensive than a standard telehealth platform.
- You’re reliant on another company’s product, if an issue occurs, you have to trust that the company will address it.
Build Your Own Telehealth Platform
Building your own telehealth platform is no easy task. It requires a lot of time and money, and there is no guarantee that the finished product will function as expected. However, if you succeed, you’ll have developed a platform uniquely adapted to the needs of your practice.
Pros
- Ownership of the technology.
- Complete customization.
- Ability to design workflows tailored to your organization.
Cons
- Significantly more expensive than white-labeling or buying an existing platform.
- Time-consuming development process.
- Continuous maintenance.
- Possible bugs and errors that could result in dissatisfied patients.
Buy an Existing Telehealth Platform
Purchasing an existing telehealth platform from a vendor is the most inexpensive and straightforward option. Most platforms have been tried and tested, so you’ll know what to expect in terms of performance and functionality. However, off-the-shelf options do come with some limitations.
Pros
- Fully functional features that have been tested and refined.
- Tech support for troubleshooting issues.
- Relatively inexpensive.
Cons
- Little to no customization.
- Rigidly defined clinical workflows.
- Can have poor user experiences.
Meet Beam, Your White-Label Solution
At Beam, we understand that your organization has an image that needs to be maintained. We can help you do that with a completely customized white-label telehealth platform. Along with HIPAA compliant video conferencing, our platform comes with a connected suite of practice management tools to support seamless revenue growth, enhanced patient experiences, and simplified workflows. When you choose Beam as your white-label telehealth solution, you can rest assured that you are in the best of hands. There’s a reason why 9 out of 10 patients rate Beam a five-star experience. For more information and to schedule a demo, click here.
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