The recent outbreak of the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 has put the whole world on edge. We are living in the 21st century with massive scientific developments and technological excellence at our service. Yet, a virusof a microscopic size is enough to make us realize that the fantasies we have seen in the Hollywood virus outbreak films such as Contagion, World War Z, and Flu can be so close to real life. In a rare scenario, the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 that emerged from Wuhan province of China, has frightened people all over the world with its unprecedented severity. In addition to it, the unavailability of any vaccine has instilled more fear in people. While the past few years have seen frequent emergence of animal generated viral diseases, this time, the fear of global risk for a Pandemic spread is at its peak. Traveling restrictions and quarantines have added to economic and social disruptions.
The world has dealt with and contained the previous virus outbreaks of Nipah, Zika, MERS, SARS, H1N1, Ebola, and many more successfully with scientific technology and robust software solutions. Similarly, in the case of the COVID-19, technologies such as AI-based temperature detection system, algorithms to predict the path of virus travel, and the use of robots to monitor quarantined patients have proved helpful in limiting the damage. Technological advancements can come to our rescue, and the viral monster can be shown its place. There are software solutions that can help us to control the outbreak, restore normalcy, and curtail the loss of social order.
In this article, we will discuss the best software solutions that can be used by patients and healthcare workers to fight back this deadly virus.
How technological surveillance helps to curb the COVID-19 viral infection?
With the virus infecting more than 119245 people and killing around 4300 people around the world till now, one might argue that the containment measures by governments around the world have not been very effective in curbing the infection. But we cannot deny that we have seen unprecedented efforts this time. IMF (International monetary fund) has promised 50 billion dollars to prevent this disaster.
Countries such as China, the US, and other European and Asian countries have already shown that their technological surveillance is not just a piece of a performative gimmick but an efficient tool to fight the infection. These countries have deployed the latest technology to minimize economic impact and combat COVID-19 coronavirus with full might. Thermometer guns, artificial intelligence-enabled robots, telemedicine devices, hospital management software, appointment scheduling tools, emergency notification systems, disinfecting devices, camera-equipped drones, AI-powered diagnosis systems, and many more technologies have helped countries to lessen the intensity of the dreadful virus. Without technology, the situation could have been worse. Control intervention is crucial to stop any disease from spreading further. Technological surveillance and software tools act as the control mechanism for the prevention, handling, and stopping of these deadly diseases.
Let us discuss four of such technologies that can be integral to early identification, prevention, and handling of Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak. We have curated for you the list of best software in each category. We will also discuss the features of the software, one from each category- one popular, one free and one affordable software.
Best Software Solutions to fight Coronavirus:
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Telemedicine Software:
Telemedicine software allows people with mild infection symptoms to seek medical advice on the phone, video call, or secure messaging. Providing clinical services to patients remotely from the hospital is possible with telemedicine management software. During Coronavirus COVID 19 virus containment measures, where people are advised to remain at home, a telemedicine software that lets themget a video consultation, remote evaluation and virtual monitoringsitting in the hospital far away, seems to be a rational solution.
- Patients' mass quarantine scenarios and issues of limited hospital space can be easily mitigated with Telemedicine systems.
- Implementing telehealth systems can ensure that only the very sick people and emergency cases are admitted to hospitals while comparatively less sick can be treated virtually at their home.
- It also stops the further spread of disease due to contact. It ensures more safety for health workers by minimizing contacts.
- Telemedicine software has features to conduct a live medical treatment session on a HIPAA compliant framework.
Chiron Health (Popular)
Chiron is a popular telemedicine software that makes visits easier for both patients and doctors. It removes any obstacle that patients face in seeing their healthcare service provider on a regular basis. It reduces travel time and costs and the burden on patients.
Key Features:
- EHR/PM Integration
- Eligibility Verifications
- Mobile apps for patients
- Custom Branding
- Built-in support
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Compliant Video
- Practice Management
- Appointment Reminders
- Appointment scheduling
- Patient Queue Management
- Video Conferencing
- Multi-Provider Practice
Pricing- The basic plan of Chiron Health telemedicine tool is $150/month.
Doxy.me (Free)
Doxy.me is free online telemedicine software made, keeping accessibility in mind. It is extremely simple and easy to use. It is a very secure telemedicine management software which is HIPAA, HITECH, GDPR, and PHIPA compliant. It is accessible on multiple devices.
Key Features:
- Private and Secure
- Live Chat
- Serves as a medical practice assistant
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Compliant
- Send patients text, videos, and images
- Records Meeting history
- Maintains patient’s details
- Patient Queue
- Patient Check-In
- Mobile Friendly
- Wailing Room
- Quality Video
- Custom Branding
- Analytics
Pricing- Doxy.me is free software.
AdvancedMD Rhythm (Affordable)
Built on a cloud platform, AdvancedMD Rhythm is an affordable telemedicine software that provides customers with unprecedented access to information, high data security, and easy storage with automatic backup. This telehealth system lets the doctors to expand their coverage and helps patients in easy bookings.
Key Features:
- Unified workflow
- Cutting-edge security
- Patient Engagement
- Patient Portal
- Managed Billing
- Smart EHR (Electronic Health Record) Dashboard
- Practice Management
- Appointment Reminders
- ePrescribing
- Reputation Management
- Recording & Analytics
- Specialty Cards
- Personal Telemedicine
Pricing: AdvancedMD Rhythm provides the lowest pricing for all software bundles that include EHR, billing, and patient engagement.
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Hospital Management Software (HMS):
The increased flow of patients during such outbreaks causes chaotic situations in hospital premises. Accommodating the potential rise in visit volumes is essential to ensure the obstacle-free treatment to sick people. A hospital management software can provide real-time information about vacate beds, available doctors, and staff and can help admin staff in allotting the required necessities to coronavirus patients.
- Along with it, real-time reports on discharge timings of already treated patients helps to determine waiting time for other patients in queue. A hospital can also decide if it would be prudent for them to close the waiting list so that patients can quickly initiate a search for another hospital.
- Patients looking for diagnosis can pre-book appointments with the appointment scheduler feature in the HMS software.
- Apart from this, doctors can keep a patient's records in easily fetchable databases. With one click, all reports are on the screen, so a lot of time is saved.
- Facility management features of these hospital management software prevent any equipment downtime. These software can monitor the inventory, surgical equipment, and other essential medications and automatically send alerts for a purchase order ensuring uninterrupted supply.
- With so many patients in the hospital, it is difficult for the nurses to ensure medicines are administered timely. The hospital management system sends patient-wise alerts for medicine and normal checkup time to the concerned nurses.
eHospital Systems (Popular)
eHospital Systems is a comprehensive, integrated, customizable, and popular Hospital Management System that helps Healthcare facilities, medical practitioners, and multi-specialty clinics to manage all hospital operations. It sends the text, IM, and email reminders and improves the quality of patient care. This hospital management software solution is available for on-premise and on-cloud installations.
Key Features:
- Patient Registration
- Appointment & Scheduling
- Security Management
- Outpatient and Inpatient Management
- Discharge summary
- Billing
- Radiology Management
- Laboratory Management
- Consultant Management
- Pharmacy Management
- Inventory Management
- Medical Data
- Reception Management
- Mobile Apps
- Analytics and Dashboards
- Barcode Scanner Interface
- Finance & Accounting
- Biometric Device Interface
- E-mail and SMS Integration
- Web Camera Interface
- Medical Laboratory Equipment Integration
- Ambulance Management
- Blood Bank Management
- Nurse Station
- Health Package
- Multi-Language
- Operation Theatre Management
- Equipment Maintenance Management
Pricing: Please check the GoodFirms page for the pricing details.
Tekxtrem (Free)
Tekxtrem is a complete solution for your hospital management needs. Tekxtrem is a free hospital management software that provides robust tools for operating your hospital. It provides custom applications that suit your hospital management model. All departments, doctors, and patients can be monitored from a single dashboard.
Key Features:
- Administrator functionalities
- Mange departments of hospitals
- Manage patients and account opening along with updating
- View appointment list of the patients
- Maintain medicine
- Keep records of hospital stock medicines
- Order Invoice to patient
- Highly Secure
- Completely Responsive
- Manage blood bank along with blood donors
- Supports desktop, laptop, smartphone, and tablet
- Create an invoice for payment
Pricing: Tekxtrem is free of cost.
HMSDESK (Affordable)
HMS desk is an affordable hospital management system that helps you with every aspect of your hospital operation. Everything is implemented and recorded with precision, and it integrates all information related to institutes, doctors, staff, patients, etc. It has features to take care of scheduling, appointment, prescription, financial analytics, etc.
Key Features:
- Online appointment booking
- User-friendly
- Bed availability
- Customization
- SMS Integration
- Patients Modules
- Schedule Doctor’s Appointments
- Operation Theatre availability
- Manage Pharmacy
- Vehicles/ Ambulance
- Import Patient Data
- Sterilization and Maintenance Department
- (OPD) Outpatient Department
- IPD (Inpatient Department)
- Inventory and Accounting
- Blood Donation
- Billing Module
Pricing: Please check GoodFirms page for the pricing details of this hospital management software solution.
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Emergency Notification software:
Everyday new information is being gathered about the novel Coronavirus COVID 19. Keeping track of new developments and sending out instant notifications to all departments in the hospitals is an essential activity. Poor communication, undirected updates, and delay in providing valuable information should not cost more lives due to this virus. Hospitals should deploy emergency notification software to spread accurate information and keep their staff and patients informed and safe.
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- Emergency notification systems can notify about an elevated number of patients requesting staff help.
- It can help in timely notifications in case of any incident, confusion, and chaotic situations.
- In case of any mishap with the building, the emergency notification tools can be used to send facility-wide announcements to the right people without creating panic in patients.
AlertMedia (Popular)
AlertMedia’s is a popular emergency notification system that provides your hospital fast and reliable delivery of mass notifications to all your departments. This modern system keeps everyone informed during critical events.
Key Features:
- Unified emergency notification system
- Safest and robust technical environment for data security
- Data-driven insights to track the progress
- Multi-Channel Notification Delivery
- Message Customization per channel
- Two-Way Messaging
- Intuitive User-Experience
- Mobile applications for Android and iOS
- Audience Interaction
- Map view & Geo-fencing
- Easy-to-use experience
- Customer Support
- Real-time Alerts
- Unlimited admins
- Dedicated Emergency Number
- Onboarding, setup, and training
- Dedicated account management
- Data integrations and a well-documented API
- 24x7 customer support
Pricing – The pricing is based on the audience size and the usage. The software allows you to try the features for free for a specified time. Moreover, AlertMedia comes with simple subscription pricing with no setup fees.
SoCoAlert (Free)
SocoAlert is a free emergency notification system that helps you to respond in the event of emergency situations. Messages regarding Evacuation notifications, safety, shelter-in-place orders, advisories, warnings, etc. can be disseminated using the SoCoAlert system.
Key Features:
- Safe and Secure Information
- Local Alerts for Local Emergencies
- Emergency alerts of novel coronavirus
- Evacuation orders
- Warnings and updates
- Life-saving alerts
Pricing- SoCoalert is free of cost.
Zenduty (Affordable)
Zenduty is an affordable industry grade emergency response system that assists you in times of critical incidents. It has tools that help you to to handle emergency situations with fast and structured response.
Key Features:
- Real-time visualizations of the operations
- Streamlines the incident response
- Advanced Routing Rules
- Flexible scheduling
- Analytics & Reporting
- Integrations along with API (Application Programming Interface)
- Integrated ChatOps
- 24x7 support
- Institutionalize reliability into the operations
- End-to-end incident alerting and response platform
- Eliminate noisy alerts and route
- Structured Incident Response
- Analyze business-level performance
- Manage events end-to-end from Slack and Teams
Pricing:
The basic plan comes at $4.99/per month, the advanced at $13.99/per month, and for enterprise, there is an option to customize the features and the charges are managed accordingly.
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Appointment Scheduling Software:
The usage of appointment scheduling software in the coronavirus crisis can help hospitals and patients to synchronize, schedule, and coordinate visits. Patients who want to visit hospitals can find availability of slots for appointments through an appointment scheduling software. In a complicated situation like this, doctors and healthcare staff cannot afford to sit idle, nor do patients would appreciate waiting periods of any kind. Also, when hospitals are running short of time, any no-show of a booked appointment can be accommodated automatically.
- Appointment scheduling software can be helpful to saving valuable time for doctors and other healthcare officials. It ensures optimum utilization of time.
- The appointment scheduling tools will reduce the unnecessary crowd and chaos at hospitals. Only booked appointments will come for a visit.
- It will help in managing the hospital schedule, staff scheduling, and patient visits effectively.
TimeTap(Popular)
Timetap is a popular appointment scheduling software that has a web scheduler that works 24/7 to organize your day to day schedules. With features such as automated appointment waitlists, 2-Way external Calendar Sync, flexible availability, and many more, it is a one-stop solution for all your appointment-related needs.
Key Features:
- Multiple time zones
- Customizable Booking Forms
- 2-Way Calendar Syncs
- Complete appointment management
- Automated emails
- Essential Mobile apps
- Enable appointment waitlist
- Upload client files securely
- Multiple staff calendars
- Unlimited appointments and clients
- Export data to excel
- Personal Staff Booking pages
- Asks screening questions
Pricing
The pricing of TimeTap: For Business - $74.95/month (team)
$44.95/month (solo)
For Professional - $39.95/ month (team)
$24.95/month (solo)
SuperSaas (Free)
With the SuperSaaS free appointment scheduling system, you can do scheduling at your fingertips. It is scalable and customizable software that can integrate with Google calendar and Outlook and also supports 26 currencies for booking payments. Hospitals can save a lot of time and costs by its automated features.
Key Features:
- Extremely customizable
- Send confirmations and reminders
- Integrates payment options
- Security and reliability
- Reporting and Analytics
- Synchronize with other calendars
- Flexible in-process and layout
- Reduce no-shows and improve bookings
- Automated Notifications
- Desktop and Mobile Interface
- Optimize time-saving
Pricing
SuperSaas provides a free version.
ScheduleOnce (Affordable)
ScheduleOnce is an affordable appointment scheduling system that offers features to create almost scheduling scenarios for solo doctors, and hospital teams. ScheduleOnce can be integrated with your website, web conferencing service, CRM application, forms, Gmail, and PayPal. It ensures your workflows and processes stay intact.
Key Features:
- Multi-user support
- Comprehensive-time zone support
- Reporting
- Time and workload management
- Custom booking forms
- Confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups
- Direct Resource Scheduling
- Automatic Booking
- Virtual and physical locations
- Editable customer interface text
- Resource Pools
- Time and Workload Management
- SMS notifications
- Pooled availability
- Monitors booking distribution
- Priority-based assignments
- Website Integration
- Custom Themes
Pricing:
The basic pricing of ScheduleOnce is $15/month.
Conclusion:
A pandemic spread causes huge loss of lives, and economic activities suffer due to fear-induced work aversion. Epidemic intelligence models clearly define the steps to combat any virus outbreaks. While any massive virus outbreak is linked to multiple regional and global factors, the solution lies in the early molecular identification of the agent pathogen and, based on it, preparation of the vaccine.
WHO tweeted recently-
We are eight weeks into this #COVID19 outbreak: yet we have identified the virus, we have the genetic sequence, PCR & serological assay in use. This wealth of knowledge is unprecedented for a new disease.
The tweet is an optimistic conclusion of the fact that we are progressing in a positive direction to beat this virus and to find a working vaccine for it. Many governments around the world have also started campaigns in collaboration with the telecom operators to greet callers with alerts and information about the dos and don’ts related to coronavirus. has also started Meanwhile, the above software solutions can help in curbing a more disastrous spread of the infection. The government, hospital authorities, and software vendors should work together to ensure easy and hassle-free installations of the software at the required facilities.
If you come across more technologies and software that can help to contain Coronavirus COVID 19, please do share with us. We all need to play a responsible role and share participation in our fight against this global scare.
