WeCounsel Review for Telemedicine & Telehealth

WeCounsel Review

WeCounsel is a solid product, but because of the high bandwidth video technology they are using, it’s tough to really give them high marks because patients are likely to struggle to maintain a good quality connection.

Bandwidth is such a critical factor and WeCousel uses Vidyo technology, which is now obsolete to newer, Web based technologies. First, most of our Internet connections are shared whether at home, work, or out and about. Co-workers, family members, or even neighbors can affect how much bandwidth is available. Then, other programs or apps, like Facebook, can be running behind the scenes also using bandwidth. Sharing video requires downloading and uploading at the same time so to require 3 Mbps is going to be problematic. Other technologies can work great, in high definition, for a fraction of the bandwidth.

Here are some other limitations to consider:

Vidyo technology is not cheap, so there could be other costs here
Groups are limited to 3-6 and realistically 3 is probably a stretch with the bandwidth requirements
Online integrates with Google and other online calendars; otherwise, no integrations to clinical and back office systems
E-commerce is likely to have additional fees beyond a regular merchant account
Support can be limited
E-signature is likely to be an additional tool and cost
Mobile support is unrealistic with the bandwidth requirements unless on really strong WiFi
No patient scheduling available

In scanning online reviews, here are what some real users have discovered…

“Seems not to work well on mobile devices”

“But most of my clients CAN’T open, speak, see and be seen by me on video talk, unfortunately!!!”

“It is tricky for clients to set up, without assistance.”

“Some glitches with connecting.”

“No tools to identify when there are lags in service.”

“i enjoy wecounsel but sometimes my patients find difficulties with getting started. also, sometimes the video quality isn’t the best.”

“Difficulty in getting new folks set up.”

“Video quality isn’t better ham other options. Not easy to navigate around. Too many steps/lclicks to get into a session. No option to turn off scheduling or note taking features so you and client don’t get prompts. No whiteboard feature despite being advertised.”

“… clients still have struggled to get their video up and running on the first session.”

“I am fairly tech-minded, and yet found set-up and ease of operation to be somewhat challenging. Clients have had to spend time with tech support before using the platform, which is not what a new client needs to experience via tele-health.”

So there are several big issues going on here that are going to make virtual video visits difficult with this product:

The bandwidth requirements are simply too steep for the average patient
The Vidyo video technology requires a special software / plug-in download to work and any additional steps to connect will create problems
If the patient has to log in and go through a registration process to connect, this will also create problems for a successful Telemedicine initiative

There are simply better solutions available that are just as affordable but will work far better long-term for your healthcare organization. This is your future and the future of healthcare so don’t take this decision lightly. Do the homework and understand the caveats.

We hope you enjoyed the WeCounsel review and we wish you great success if modernizing care for your patients and clients.

WeCounsel Editor rating as a Telehealth solution: