Webex, Paving the Road for Everyday Telehealth

Webex Telehealth Connector

Cisco is helping to extend and expand healthcare with the new Webex Telehealth Connector, connecting patients and healthcare services through highly secure, browser-based video consultations.

More than ever, patients expect seamless experiences when it comes to healthcare. At the same time, providers are seeking ways to increase scale while maintaining a high quality of care. From connectivity on medical campuses to geo-location services enabling asset tracking to remote consultations, Cisco has been at the forefront of enabling innovative healthcare solutions.

The Rapid Growth of Telehealth

Given recent regulatory discretion around reimbursements for remote visits, coupled with a shift in patient preferences and the need to distance patients and providers during global health events, we’ve seen a rapidly growing interest in telehealth. Recent studies have indicated “demand for virtual care visits expected to surge beyond 1 billion visits in 2020^1” alone. Healthcare is adapting to change quickly, and here at Cisco, we strive to enable healthcare providers with the tools they need to extend quality care in conjunction with these changes. We are pleased to share our latest efforts in this area, with the introduction of the Cisco Webex Telehealth Connector for Epic.

A Simple Way to Connect

The Webex Telehealth Connector for Epic provides secure, browser-based (webRTC) video consultations scheduled and managed directly from Epic’s Electronic Medical Record (EMR) platform. Using a browser-based approach means there are no application downloads, no plugins, and no required logins to third party sites.

Webex Telehealth Connector

How to Set up and Run a Virtual Visit

The process to set up a virtual visit is quick and easy. A healthcare staff member or a patient logs into their existing Epic EMR system and schedules an appointment with their patient or preferred healthcare professional. Once the appointment is set, when it is time to join, the patient clicks the Join button in their EMR portal, generating a secure meeting link. The provider on the other end starts the meeting using the Start button, and the scheduled parties are joined together.

In addition to meeting virtually face to face, with Telehealth Connector for Epic Standard, participants can also share their screen to review charts or other documentation to better facilitate the conversation.

Overcome Barriers to Health Services Caused by Distance

Traditional visits to healthcare will always have their place. While you can’t mend a broken bone over the video, there are other services where virtual visits can be beneficial for patients and healthcare providers alike. This includes the ability to:

Connect patients with remote experts that otherwise would be too difficult to reach
Improve virtual patient care by meeting for clarification questions or follow-ups
Reduce the cost of healthcare resources and operational costs with less PPE consumed with in-office visits
Save time for patients and healthcare workers, enabling additional patient care

Secure Telehealth

By partnering with the industry trusted Webex platform for telehealth, you know your video visits are secure (ISO 27001,27017, and 27018) reliable and built for ease of use. Learn more about HIPAA and Webex.