API technology has revolutionized fintech, consumer tech, travel, and more - and now they’re set to reshape traditional approaches to healthcare. However, you may be wondering about exactly how you could use telemedicine specific APIs at your digital health startup. In this article, we discuss some of the key ways that health technology companies are leveraging APIs to quickly and easily add functionality to their platform.

How APIs are used by health technology companies

APIs essentially negate the need to build core functionalities for your platform from scratch. When your developers don’t need to spend hours creating things like calendars or patient portals, their time can be spent on perfecting the most original and exciting aspects of your brand. From facilitating paperless client intake to streamlining the billing process, there are countless ways APIs can improve your platform’s capabilities.

Scheduling

When it comes to  healthcare and technology, one of the most common uses for APIs is scheduling. These days, clients definitely prefer being able to book appointments online, rather than calling to organize a time. When you integrate an API into your platform, clients won’t even need to visit a different website to do this. They simply book their appointment online, and it will be automatically added to their healthcare provider’s calendar. Many APIs will also support things such as automatic SMS reminders and cancellation or rescheduling, making things easier for the client and provider.

New client intake

Currently, many healthcare providers use paper forms to collect their clients’ personal details, medical history, and insurance information. Manually entering this data into an EHR system is both time-consuming and prone to error, but can easily be streamlined through the use of telemedicine APIs. A client intake API saves time for office staff, and secure digital forms make it easy for healthcare providers to receive the most complete picture of their clients’ health.

Telehealth

Telehealth is looking like the way forward for healthcare, and APIs have definitely aided its advancement. With telemedicine APIs, health technology companies are able to support HIPAA compliant video and audio calls (one on one or in groups), asynchronous communication, patient engagement, and more. Many of these APIs also support further features, such as tracking telehealth activity in real time for easy reporting and billing, or recording video sessions so clients can review them later.

Wearables

Wearable health devices, such as smart watches, are a major health technology trend. APIs allow data to be automatically transferred from these devices to a third party app. For instance, a diabetic patient may have a device that keeps track of their blood sugar levels. Rather than needing to write down the data that the device displays, an API would record it in an app. The information could then be automatically shared with the patient’s healthcare provider.

Billing and insurance

The ability to pay through your phone is a must-have for mobile apps. The right billing API will make it easy to create and manage subscriptions, handle recurring payments, and automatically generate payment documentation.

While industries such as consumer tech definitely need direct billing and card payment functionality, healthcare differs in that it’s often highly reliant on insurance billing. Using an API for insurance will allow your users to easily generate and send insurance claims. It may even support auto-filling claim details.

Interoperability between providers

The healthcare industry has long suffered from providers using closed systems for their recordkeeping. A doctor, radiologist, and physical therapist may all have quite different sets of notes about the same patient. 

Telemedicine APIs are set to make this fragmented system of records a thing of the past by increasing healthcare interoperability. Your platform may benefit from an API that simplifies data sharing between providers, so that healthcare providers can easily have an overview of a client’s condition.

How you can leverage Healthie’s API

Healthie is a comprehensive all-in-one practice management platform for healthcare businesses. We offer an API which allows you to:

• Easily integrate features such as our calendar, charting functionalities, intake forms, insurance billing, payment processing, telehealth services, and more into your own service offerings.
• Leverage our industry-leading health technology and patient engagement portal, including features such as secure messaging, food and lifestyle journaling, metric tracking, goal setting, and more.
• Take advantage of our direct integration with platforms including Zoom, Stripe, Fullscript, Office Ally, Apple Health, Google Fit, Fitbit, and more.
• Feel confident that your telemedicine API is totally secure, maintaining HIPAA and PCI compliance.
  

To learn more, contact us today to book a one on one information session.