Are telehealth innovations the future of care delivery? Pat Keran, vice president of product and innovation for UnitedHealthcare shared his insights and what’s to come from the integration of telehealth innovations in the healthcare landscape.
It’s should be of no surprise that in today’s app-fascinated world that telehealth services are becoming increasingly popular both for consumers and employers. According to a recent report from the National Business Group on Health, 39 percent of Americans say they are interested in using telemedicine—and more than of the surveyed companies (51 %) are planning to expand the use of telehealth solutions to help employees access to care.
The use of telehealth is especially important for people with chronic conditions and 20 percent of the U.S. population that lives in rural areas, where access to health care (particularly specialty care) is often lacking. Both the popularity and the potential of telehealth isn’t lost on United Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest health insurers. That’s why it recently introduced a new app that provides health information for “people on the go.”
Some of the app’s perks include the ability to directly schedule and conduct a telehealth visit with a doctor. The app is available for download at no additional charge for Android and Apple devices to more than 27 million people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored health benefit plans, giving people with coverage for virtual physician visits secure, online access to a physician via mobile phone, tablet or computer 24 hours a day.
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Virtual visits typically last less than 20 minutes, and doctors can treat many non-emergency medical conditions, including allergies, flu, colds, pinkeye, fevers, and rashes. It can also help some patients avoid unnecessary emergency room visits. According to United Healthcare, about 25% of emergency room visits involve conditions that could appropriately be addressed with a virtual visit.
The benefits of telehealth go beyond the mere convenience for the consumer and will hopefully result in meaningful cost savings all around. Virtual care generally costs less than $50 per visit compared to an average per-visit cost of $130 for urgent care or $740 for an emergency room visit for a similar low-severity condition. Another cost-saving perk: app users can use the telehealth appointments to obtain prescription medications (where available), including the ability to select a local pharmacy for pick up.
Pat Keran, vice president of product and innovation for UnitedHealthcarev shared the impetus behind his company’s latest innovation—in this interview with HIT Consultant—along with his perspective on what’s to come from the integration of telehealth innovations in the healthcare landscape.
Source: HIT Consultant