Most people are surprised to learn telehealth is over a decade old because it didn’t take off until a global pandemic caused a massive paradigm shift in the minds of both consumers and medical providers.
In March 2020 telehealth visits were up 154 percent over the same timeframe in 2019 and today 46% of patients say they use telehealth for some appointments, compared to just 11 percent in 2019. Additionally, 48 percent of doctors report they have incorporated telehealth into their practice now.
While telemedicine became a necessity during the pandemic, it’s clear that it’s a trend that is here to stay.
During the COVID crisis, people of all ages were forced to turn to technology for everyday necessities like school, work, grocery shopping, and doctor visits. This shift forced people who perhaps hadn’t used platforms like Zoom or Google Meet to become proficient and comfortable in a virtual meeting environment. This adaptation of technology by all generations certainly paved the way for telemedicine to stay.
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And it turns out that most patients love the convenience and the time saved when they receive routine care, see specialists, access behavioral health services or engage in physical, speech or occupational therapy from the comfort of home. Telemedicine saved patients over 100 minutes of time and 83 percent of patients indicated they would continue to use virtual visits in a post-COVID world.
The willingness of payers such as Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers to expand coverage for telehealth services during the pandemic has also fueled increased popularity.
Now that telemedicine has proved itself with providers, patients, and insurance companies, what’s next in its evolution?
Important Infrastructure Improvements
In order to effectively offer telemedicine services providers need to have the right technology in place and that starts with solid IT infrastructure. Similar to building a multi-lane highway for vehicles, IT infrastructure needs to be constructed with the capability to promote a seamless flow of bi-directional traffic – in this case, data, software applications, text, and video. This infrastructure must also be able to accommodate and connect any type of mobile or stationary device, anywhere, anytime.
Like massive 18-wheeler rigs hogging lanes on the interstate, video gobbles up huge amounts of internet bandwidth. So embedded telehealth solutions need to be thoughtfully designed to optimize the transfer of multimedia streams between provider and patient in order to be highly effective, support an excellent user experience and help deliver reliable health care outcomes.
Source: Hitconsultant
