How Video Call is different from traditional video conferencing platforms
Find out how Video Call is designed for health consultations
Video Call is specifically designed with the needs of health service providers in mind. Choosing the right video ecosystem to offer telehealth is difficult since there are many systems available. These can be broadly classified into three types: 1:1 video chat, business video conferencing and purpose-built telehealth consulting. Video chat and video conferencing, however, are not set up specifically for clinical use and the process of connecting, both for service providers and patients, is very different. The key strengths of healthdirect Video Call are a simple, patient-centric focus that works using basic technology and mirrors a visit to a physical clinic and, from an organisation administration perspective, its scalability, visibility and cost-effectiveness. Added to this are strong privacy and security protection components to assure patients and clinicians.
The information below summarises how healthdirect Video Call is different from other platforms and why it is best suited for clinical consultations.
Step in the process |
1:1 Video chat |
Business video- conferencing platform |
Video consulting via Video Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appointment creation | Each participant needs a separate, customised notification or personal account details (both patient and clinician). | Clinician’s office sends notification identifying clinician and service – each patient needs a separate, customised notification. | Clinician’s office gives patients the service web page or the direct clinic link (Email/SMS) from which every patient can access the online waiting area – the same link can be used for all patients. |
| Accessing the patient | Patient opens meeting request to join meeting – typically either by downloading and installing a custom application software and signing up for a personal account. Clinician also must download and install and sign up for a custom desktop or mobile application with a personal account. Admin needs to manage the clinician’s personal account manually. Patient connects with clinician (audio/video) for consultation. |
If connecting from a mobile device, patient likely needs to download an app and then enter videoconferencing room address (which may be a long sequence of numbers) to be able to join meeting. Patient checks camera, audio and microphone settings, then enters details, reference or code for relevant service and clinician, as well as own name, chooses ‘guest’ option then clicks link to ‘enter’ room. Clinician, who joins consultation as a host, may need a PIN number to enter. |
Patients use a provided link to arrive in the clinic waiting area for their appointment. This link can be a button on the health service/clinician’s website or sent directly via email or SMS. It can also be integrated into a health service’s booking platform. This makes the process scalable as no individual access details are needed for each appointment. Every patient comes to the same place. Patients follow prompts to allow camera and microphone access (first time only) and enter their name, phone number and any other required data. They enter a secure online waiting area and wait to be joined for their consultation. The clinician joins the patient from the waiting area, and the consultation begins in a secure virtual consultation room, which is unique to each call and disappears when the call ends. Clinicians have access to a suite of clinical and operational tools to enrich the consultation experience |
| Monitoring by administrator | An administrator would be unable to access or monitor the call between patient and clinician. Or move patient to another provider if needed. | An administrator would be unable to access or monitor the call between the patient and clinician. Or move patient to another provider if needed. | An administrator can see which patients and clinicians are in the virtual clinic, while individual patients can easily be transferred between clinicians and clinics, as appropriate and communicate with patients back and forth as needed while waiting to be seen. |
| Ending the call | Patient leaves meeting once consultation is completed. | Once completed, clinician ‘unlocks’ video conference room and patient leaves room. | The clinician can end the call for everyone or leave the patient to be seen by another provider. Patient can hang up once the consultation is completed. The patient and clinician can be offered customised surveys to complete once the call ends. |
| Security and Privacy | Details of the call are stored in central servers (potentially offshore) and could be accessed by external parties. A patient can see if a clinician is online anytime once they are signed up to the same platform, no privacy. |
Details of the call are stored in central servers (potential offshore) and could be accessed by external parties. Risk that the next patient bumps into the previous patient. |
No digital ‘trail’ or patient digital footprint left behind on the platform. All patient data is purged from the platform database. Patients are seen in completely encrypted end-to-end, secure and private rooms. No other patient can access the room without being invited. |
Some additional ways that healthdirect Video Call benefits consumers and health service providers:
| Waiting Areas - security, ease of use and clinical setting | Patients using Video Call join a secure, private ‘waiting area’ as soon as they enter their name. No links or access numbers that could give a third-party access are involved, nor does the clinician have to remember to ‘lock’ a virtual meeting room to prevent access while they are in consultation. A healthdirect Video Call ends as soon as the patient or clinician leaves the consulting room – there is no electronic trail, record, or reference number that needs to be stored or deleted. |
| Easy Patient Access | Video Call does not require your patients to sign up. They simply enter the virtual waiting area and the consultation by providing their first and last name and their phone number so you can easily confirm it is the correct patient. Patients can use a computer, a tablet or their phone to participate in a Video Call. Video chat and business video conferencing systems rely on a unique link or code being sent out and entered each time. |
| Security & Privacy | Video Call follows Australian privacy, security and data sovereignty guidelines described in the Australian Government’s Information Security Manual (ISM) for cyber security, so that health service providers and their patients have peace of mind around data security and privacy – before, during and after a call. No digital ‘trail’ or patient digital footprints are left behind on the platform as all patient data is purged from the platform database after the call. |
| No Software Downloads | Video Call does not require any special software, unlike other platforms that require an application to be downloaded on your computer or device. The Video Call connection is via a Web browser only. This is particularly important for the patient, who doesn’t want to install new software every time they are simply meeting with another person. The enabling technology is an open international standard called WebRTC which makes it simple for both patients and practitioners to access and is available on all laptops and devices. |
| Technology requirement simplicity | With Video Call both clinicians and patients require only a computer, tablet or smartphone and an internet connection. There is no software to download, and the experience is entirely web-based, with an entry point from the health service provider website. Clinicians, patients and any other callers/guests access Video Call via Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Safari on a smartphone. |
| Scalability | Healthdirect Video Call is scalable within each organisation due to its unique design. There are no limits to the number of waiting areas that can be created for use within an organisation and there is no cost for adding more clinics or user accounts. Once trained, service administrators can create new waiting areas and add clinicians themselves, with no need to ask for or pay for additional accounts. |
| Administrator access | With Video Call, an organisation or team administrator can see which patients and clinicians are in the virtual clinic, easily seeing who is waiting and those that are being seen, and interact with these callers. Individual patients can easily be transferred between clinicians and clinics as appropriate. Administrators are provided with the tools and support to customise their Video Call experience to best suit their health service and patients. |
| Built by Healthcare Providers for Healthcare Providers | Video Call is a healthcare specific platform, designed to support the unique needs and workflows that clinicians and their patients use every day. This can include interoperable clinical tools to help support care delivery to their patients, as well as integrations with PAS and EMR/EHR systems integral to the continuity of care health systems strive for. |
| Information, guidance and support | Comprehensive online resources are available for Video Call, covering what hospitals and clinics need to know about using Video Call and how to easily integrate the platform into existing clinical practice. Experienced technical and onboarding support staff can assist with set-up. |
For more information on what is healthdirect Video Call, click here.