Video recording in healthcare has emerged as a transformative tool in clinical assessment and decision-making, offering unprecedented opportunities to enhance diagnostic accuracy, procedural adherence, and patient outcomes. By capturing nuanced behavioral, physiological, and environmental data, video technology addresses gaps in traditional methods while creating new avenues for research and quality improvement. This blog explores the evidence behind video’s impact in various specialties, highlights practical use cases, and draws on recent insights from our thoughts on interprofessional collaboration, feedback, and compliance.
Seizure Diagnosis Enhancement
Video recording in healthcare has changed how doctors evaluate seizures by allowing them to see what actually happens during an episode, instead of relying solely on what patients or their families remember and describe. Since seizures often don’t just happen while someone is at the doctor’s office, having these recordings can capture important details that might otherwise be missed.
In the UK, researchers reviewed 11 studies in which video recordings were used to support assessment and diagnosis of seizures. In these, clinicians evaluated seizures, analyzed movement patterns and adjacent symptoms like difficulty swallowing. This allowed doctors to spot small movements or triggers in the person’s environment and later on helped them figure out what kind of seizure is happening. In some cases it even helped verify if it’s even a seizure at all, preventing the unnecessary start of antiepileptic drug regimens.
Videos also help doctors tell the difference between different types of seizures like tonic-clonic (convulsive), absence (staring) or focal impaired awareness (confused or dazed). This was possible by analyzing how long the episode lasts, how it develops, and how the person responds to help. This is more objective and reliable than simply asking patients or caregivers to remember and describe what happened, which can sometimes be inaccurate.
In summary, recording seizures paints a more accurate picture of what the patient is going through, leading to a better diagnosis and more personalized treatment plans. It also helps unnecessary medication and empowers patients and families to better understand and manage the condition.
Trauma Care Protocol Adherence
Using video to review and reflect on trauma care has gained traction in the past years as it has proven helpful in getting medical teams to follow Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) guidelines more closely. This is especially critical in healthcare settings that don’t typically see many trauma cases or treat a lot of children.
One study done by Root et al. showed that providers complied more often to guidelines and correct documentation increased from 39% to 65% in the period after implementing weekly video-reflection sessions. The authors highlight that the biggest discrepancies from guidelines happened when managing patient’s airways or doing a full-body check. After teams started using video review during training, they got much better at doing the most urgent tasks on time, like keeping the neck stable or stopping bleeding.
This approach is critical in children’s trauma care, where teams may not have as much experience with serious injuries. Watching and reflecting on their own performance helped teams become more consistent. In fact, doctors who watched and reflected on their own resuscitations were significantly better at deciding what to do first in later practice scenarios.
Another benefit of this practice is that the knowledge of being recorded led the teams to be more likely to follow checklists and communicate clearly with team members. It’s very interesting how just the acknowledgement of being on camera encourages them to stick to the proper procedures and work together more effectively.
Neonatal Resuscitation Accuracy
There tends to be a big difference between what doctors and nurses write down and what actually happens during emergency care for newborns. Studies using video recording in healthcare have shown that more often than not, medical records don’t match what really takes place during emergency situations. Important details like how fast chest compressions were done or how a baby’s condition was scored are often missing or recorded incorrectly.
For example, in one hospital’s newborn intensive care unit (NICU), video review found that only about half of the attempts to put a breathing tube in a baby were recorded in medical notes and were preceded by the recommended step of suctioning the airway. Because of findings like this, some hospitals are now using video monitoring to help staff improve their techniques and improve the accuracy of records. You can read about this issue more in depth in this article.
Movement Disorder Monitoring
The ability to create virtual libraries of patient videos has given doctors and researchers a much clearer picture of the long term effects of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. Instead of relying on written notes or brief patient encounters, doctors can now watch videos of patients doing simple tasks, like tapping their fingers or walking, from the comfort of their home or care center. These videos help spot small changes in movement that might be missed otherwise, such as a patient’s handwriting getting smaller or their arm swinging less while they walk. Moreover, by observing the patient in their habitual space, it provides useful insights about things that might be overlooked otherwise such as rug placements and clutter.
For people with Parkinson’s disease, these video diaries help track symptoms more accurately than traditional note-taking. Doctors can also see how symptoms like involuntary movements change throughout the day and how well the medication is working, resulting in better treatment adjustments. Apps like Videolab can help patients to record themselves from the convenience of their home that are later on shared with their attending physician. Ultimately, more frequent and objective at-home assessments of motor function could enable more precise telehealth optimization of interventions and therefore improve clinical outcomes.
For rare movement disorders like Huntington’s, video libraries let researchers compare cases worldwide. It really helps spot patterns early.By reviewing these videos, researchers can spot early warning signs. These signs help predict how fast the disease might get worse. These libraries are also an immense opportunity for teaching hospitals to train the clinical eye of their residents who might not get many opportunities to encounter many of these cases during their medical training.
Primary Care Communication Analysis
Recent research highlights the strong connection between how doctors communicate and how satisfied patients feel with their care. For example, one large study found that only 33% of patients rated their doctor’s communication as “excellent”, even though good communication was closely linked to higher satisfaction scores. Other studies confirm that doctors who pay attention to patients’ verbal and nonverbal cues tend to have higher patient satisfaction scores than those who do not. Effective communication and empathy has even shown to be a factor when it comes to retaining patient loyalty amongst healthcare providers.
There are still some common barriers. Short appointments, language gaps, and not getting enough info can leave patients frustrated. Some authors attribute this last barrier to the unconscious use of jargon. One study found that doctors interrupt patients after an average of just 11 seconds, and in 67% of encounters, patients are interrupted before they finish explaining their concerns. Listening well and skipping the jargon helps doctors connect with patients. This builds trust and makes care better. Ultimately resulting in higher patient satisfaction, improved understanding of their health issues and consequently better health outcomes.
Challenges and Future Directions
Patient privacy is an ongoing challenge when contemplating the use of video recording in healthcare. Because these videos are sensitive, strict protocols are needed. This keeps everything in line with national or regional rules (such as HIPAA or GDPR). However, reviewing and analyzing these videos takes significant time. Doctors and nurses are busy, so if video review isn’t set up well, it can just add to their workload. Moreover there is also the issue of technical quality, as camera angles may be wrong or sound quality may be poor depending on the equipment used.
With the rise of artificial intelligence, these last two challenges may become obsolete. Computer programs tweak camera and mic settings for top quality. AI can also check eye contact and conversation between doctor and patient.
After the pandemic, video recording in healthcare made care easier to access-no travel needed, just connect from home. As video use grows, people with chronic conditions, like movement disorders or mental health conditions, can greatly benefit from expedited feedback.
Conclusion
Video recording in healthcare is changing patient care for the better! Video recording in healthcare lets professionals reflect and gives teams an accurate, unbiased record for better diagnoses and treatment plans. By improving accuracy, we improve care quality and strengthen that trust between patient and care team. And although integrating video into healthcare isn’t without challenge, the benefits of its use most definitely outweigh the cons.
