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With only 11% of the US physician workforce located in rural settings, rural communities have long struggled to access quality healthcare. Rural hospital closures and difficulties attracting and retaining staff have resulted in reduced care resources in rural communities, leaving patients with health problems that are often exacerbated by poverty and chronic conditions at risk.
The rapid expansion of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a silver lining for those seeking to expand healthcare access to rural communities. Unfortunately, limited internet access in non-urban areas can present a hurdle in enabling equitable access to virtual care.
Through lessons learned helping healthcare organizations implement and scale virtual care throughout the pandemic, Caregility discovered that the majority of hospital WIFI networks are great for traditional clinical applications but are not ready for video-first applications for virtual encounters. Rural hospital networks, in particular, often are not set up to support new devices and technologies entering the modern clinical environment, including video-based telehealth services.
Noting that this hindered the use of virtual care in the very communities that could benefit most from digital support options, Caregility embarked on a mission to address internet access challenges in rural settings. In addition to developing solutions that work in adverse network environments, the company recently introduced an intelligent bandwidth management solution designed to reinforce telehealth program connectivity, particularly within rural healthcare settings. Adapting dynamically based on hospital network conditions, the module optimizes the video quality of experience (vQoE) for the user based on the experienced network conditions.
In the event that a healthcare organization is experiencing adverse network conditions, the system will dynamically optimize the quality of media sessions in order to get the best vQoE given the adverse network conditions’ impact. To optimize the experience for end users, Caregility video streams use adaptive bitrate (ABR) algorithms to dynamically adjust the video’s bitrate based on network conditions such as jitter, bandwidth, latency, and packet loss. This ensures that if the network starts to drop, the system will automatically optimize the media stream for call quality, rolling back to just audio if needed to avoid dropping a call. This innovation has been deployed into the production environment of the Caregility cloud-based virtual care platform and is currently available to all subscribers.
With a goal to enable virtual engagement affordably and reliably at every patient bedside, Caregility is committed to supporting virtual health equity in rural communities. In-depth knowledge of the unique constraints and variables posed by real-time video communications underpins the company’s success in configuring virtual care networks that deliver optimal, high-quality patient and clinician experiences. The company’s efforts align with telehealth support initiatives included in the 2021 Infrastructure Bill that seek to improve broadband access to enable virtual care in rural, underserved communities.
Reliable, high-speed internet is essential for expanding access to healthcare, especially in rural areas. As rural hospitals and care centers seek to move beyond telehealth to more targeted, at-risk patient support programs like remote patient monitoring and hybrid or hospital-at-home care delivery models, connectivity will be even more imperative. Caregility’s innovation in intelligent bandwidth management enables rural healthcare providers to deliver reliable virtual care to patients, no matter their location.
