In the rapidly evolving healthcare sector, it has become even more critical for doctors, nurses, specialties, laboratories, and the many other individuals involved in a patient’s care to be able to communicate effectively and collaborate efficiently as technology continues to evolve. As a result, healthcare organizations and hospital groups around the world need to be able to provide their patients and practitioners with the best tools possible to facilitate efficient and effective communication, so they can provide and receive care in the most effective way possible.

In order to improve patient experience, and also to democratize healthcare, it has become increasingly popular for patients to interact virtually with their doctors – whether they receive outpatient care in the comfort of their own homes, or consult with experts located in different countries or regions. This has improved the patient experience, and made services easier to access, improving patient accessibility. This trend is being driven by Zoom, which has been chosen by eight out of the ten largest US health systems. Zoom is a pioneer in this field.

A leading oncology hospital in the UK has been working with Zoom to explore how the power of telehealth can be used to best meet the needs of patients in accordance with their evolving needs. The Royal Marsden in West London is known around the world for its work treating cancer, and has been working with Zoom to explore how the technology can do this. The following is a sneak peak into the three main reasons why Royal Marsden Hospital decided to adopt Zoom earlier this year ahead of Zoomtopia, where David Newey, the Chief Information Officer of the hospital, will speak about his experience migrating the hospital on to Zoom earlier this year:

1. The British public is familiar with, and trusts, Zoom as a brand. In the UK, Zoom was the most downloaded app and its popularity can be attributed in part to its easy-to-use feature, its reliability in low-bandwidth environments, as well as its lack of requirements for users to sign up for an account before being able to participate in a Zoom meeting. Data from the regulator Ofcom suggests that one in four UK adults (26%) use Zoom to send messages or make video or voice calls and that the app remains widely used. Royal Marsden, according to David Newey, saw it as important that Zoom received widespread acclaim among the British public:

2. As Zoom scales and integrates with Epic at its own pace, it can join the patient management system at an accelerated rate. Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), the UK’s leading children’s hospital, requested Zoom to provide video visit capabilities for patients following the outbreak of the Ebola virus. With Zoom, the hospital was able to fully integrate Zoom into its existing Epic system in just eight days, which enabled Zoom to implement video visits for 5,000 staff and patients in addition to fully integrating Zoom into its existing Epic systems. In the opinion of David Newey, Director of GOSH, when it came to choosing to migrate to Zoom, GOSH’s experience was an important consideration:

3. Zoom’s security program is built on the foundation of third-party certifications and standards as an integral part of its design. It is our belief that security and privacy play a crucial role in the success of a healthcare organization, which is why we provide providers with features that enable providers to communicate over Zoom in a way that is secure and private. As well as sending encrypted data over the public internet, such as Zoom Meetings, Zoom Webinars, Zoom Contact Center, and Zoom Phone data, the data we send over the public internet is also encrypted using the 256-bit AES-GCM encryption standard, and we can make sure that all audio, video, and shared content is securely encrypted in real time. It is also the case that our account has access to the option of enabling end-to-end encryption for Zoom Meetings and Zoom Phone calls with a single participant.

Choosing a platform that prioritises patient privacy

When choosing a communication platform, or any software that will be used by healthcare providers to process patient data, it is vital that providers are able to trust that the data will be stored and exchanged in a secure manner. It is the intention of the National Health Service (NHS) to develop the NHS Digital Health Standards Audit in order to evaluate and assess all of the digital health technology products available across the NHS and to determine whether or not they comply with the National Health Service’s Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC). In accordance with the Health and Social Care Act, 2012, these standards are considered baseline standards that are mandated by law as a minimum standard.

This is one of the main reasons why these standards are so important, as they provide NHS staff and patients with the assurance that what they are using in terms of digital health tools is compliant with the rigorous and strict clinical safety, data protection, technical security, interoperability, usability, and accessibility standards set by the NHS.

Match fit for use in the NHS

Zoom has developed DTAC and DCB0129 ready software as well as a DSP Toolkit that enables it to support the NHS in providing patients with effective and secure digital health care.

• DTAC: In order to ensure that new digital technologies are purchased by healthcare organisations are in compliance with minimum baseline standards, the DTAC facilitates assessment by healthcare organisations of the supply chain suppliers before making purchases. DTAC criteria have been met by Zoom.

• DCB0129: As a part of the DCB0129 standard, manufacturers of health IT software, including the development of data centers, are able to demonstrate the clinical safety of their products, and it provides a set of requirements that are systematically structured to ensure an effective application of clinical risk management.

• DSP toolkit: The National Data Guardian has also established a Data Security Program (DSP) toolkit, which is a self-assessment tool designed to help organisations measure how well they perform against the 10 data security standards described by the NDG. This toolkit will provide assurance that all organisations with access to NHS patient data and systems will be practising good data security and will be handling personal information correctly by using the appropriate tools.

If you are interested in finding out about Zoom’s Privacy Protection Program, you can explore Zoom’s Trust Center by clicking the link above or you can contact Zoom to request access to Zoom’s DTAC toolbox by getting in touch with us.

FAQs