Telehealth Supply Chain: 5 Step Process To Build It

Successful telehealth platforms should be HIPAA-compliant and seek to deliver pharma brands directly to consumers as simply as possible.

FREMONT, CA: The telehealth business has a lot of space for expansion. Experts expect that by 2025, the overall market value of telemedicine will be 227.93 billion dollars. In the last three years, nearly 1,000 telehealth enterprises got established.Existing healthcare providers are keen to enter the market, but many lack the requisite skills and technological know-how to develop a digital platform. Others may possess technical expertise but lack contacts with pharmacies and suppliers, and distributors.

Step 1: The telehealth platform

Every startup telehealth company requires a platform to collect patient health data. One such platform must be completely compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which means it must meet all HIPAA requirements to protect sensitive patient data. In addition, the platform should support both synchronous and asynchronous health consultations.

Step 2: Payment processing

Telehealth firms that distribute products, like e-commerce businesses, must have a payment method. Due to HIPAA regulations, credit card processing for healthcare businesses differs from those of e-commerce businesses. On receipts or bills, all payment systems get forbidden from disclosing patient health information.Furthermore, payment systems are not permitted to hold protected health information in the merchant's account (PHI).

Step 3: Set up a backend

For keeping track of appointments, pre-existing diseases, current medications, and other vital information, most telehealth firms rely on a secure database of patient information. Within a patient's electronic medical record, doctors and nurses must save patient data in a HIPAA-compliant format (EMR).Manual data entry of medical information from intake forms to EMRs may be necessary by less sophisticated systems, which can be time-consuming. By integrating these systems, pre-made platforms can make the process easier.

Step 4: Prescription fulfillment coverage

To successfully fulfill patient requests, you must have a solid connection with a pharmacy. Any business should think about which pharmacy networks to use and what the pharmacy's obligations will be. Integrating shipping and tracking software with pharmacy inventory can help pharmacists guarantee that prescriptions are filled correctly and track shipments.

Step 5: Provider side coverage

Companies that provide telehealth and telepharmacy services rely on qualified medical providers. A telehealth company can only function in the states where their employees are licensed to practice medicine, whether they be doctors, nurse practitioners, or other medical specialists. It means that national coverage necessitates a list of providers who are all licensed in each state individually.Some states have different restrictions about who is qualified to dispense particular medications, so double-check the law before filling prescriptions. LegitScript is a certification that verifies the existence of specific licenses in a company. The certificate is necessary if the user wants to advertise on the internet.

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