WebRTC: Disruption, Opportunity...and Hype: Part 2: TelemedicineWebRTC: Disruption, Opportunity...and Hype: Part 2: Telemedicine

Real-time voice, video and data communications will help healthcare providers deliver better, faster, more economical care.

When Google introduced its Pong-like game Cube Slam a couple months ago, casual gamers got one of the first looks at what WebRTC will mean to users. The simple game allows players to see and hear each other without relying on any over-the-top (OTT) application; WebRTC enables the communication directly from Google's Chrome browser. Cube Slam is exciting because it's one of the first widely available WebRTC applications, but it's a mere hint of what's to come in markets such as healthcare, where the accessibility of plugin-free voice calling and video chat could be transformative.

WebRTC benefits meet telemedicine needs
When we talked with 169 service provider executives and application developers for Dialogic's 2013 WebRTC Impact Survey, we found that respondents had a lot of ideas in common about the value WebRTC represents. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed said that WebRTC's biggest benefit is its low implementation cost and high returns. With a broad and growing installation base and no need for infrastructure, WebRTC carries virtually no deployment burden for providers or users. We expect to see WebRTC available from 1 billion devices by the end of the year, meaning that it will be as close to ubiquitous as any technology is likely to get.

That is significant for the healthcare industry, which has been busy evaluating upstart vendors and applications aimed at improving and expanding telemedicine. Telecommunication technologies have driven improvements in the way medical teams communicate with patients in rural communities, but also in the ways in which they communicate with each other. When physicians and their teams can share data, images and diagnoses with each other quickly, it saves money--and it can save lives.

WebRTC will be a boon to telemedicine for several reasons. First, healthcare providers won't have to purchase any specialized equipment to leverage the API's capabilities. Cost-conscious healthcare organizations can make modest investments in tablets, laptops or even smartphones and use them to deliver services from a distance. The span of those services will grow with WebRTC, as well. Medical staff will be able to make voice and video calls to patients and specialists, as well as sharing videos and health records. As the market takes its first steps forward with real-time, Web-based communications, we're likely to see rapid, significant application development that blends Internet and telecommunications capabilities into a single, seamless tool for delivering better patient care.

Lowering costs, improving care
There are numerous ways in which WebRTC might fuel remote medical care. Healthcare providers will be able to easily click to call or text from within patient directories in order to stay in close contact despite remote conditions. During those calls, patients and their doctors will be able to collaborate over browser-delivered data to make informed, timely choices about pressing medical needs.

WebRTC has a lot to offer when it comes to in-person medical care, as well. If one considers, for example, the cost of desk and wall phone implementation and maintenance for a large medical institution, the advent of WebRTC has the potential for millions of dollars in savings per year. Cutting back on local and long-distance network charges boosts that savings even higher.

Such organizations are also likely to see that quicker communication will lead to faster discharges. When doctors can communicate with each other more easily, they can make decisions more quickly and send patients home sooner, thereby trimming costs for both healthcare providers and consumers.

Healthier doctor-patient communications
Google's Cube Slam is a fun, early look at how WebRTC will change the communication paradigm for consumers, but it barely touches the protocol's real potential. In a market like healthcare, WebRTC isn't about playing games; it's game changing. Real-time voice, video and data communications will help healthcare providers deliver better, faster, more economical care, which is why the prognosis for WebRTC adoption in the healthcare space is so positive.

Jim Machi is vice president of product management at Dialogic, where he is responsible for driving the overall roadmap and product strategy for the company. Follow Jim on Twitter: @JMachiDialogic