Telemedicine has been around globally for decades. Its primary focus has been to connect rural areas to medical care. However, over the last few years, a niche has developed involving telemedicine for the individual consumer, supported by payers. Virtual care is designed with the patient in mind and is poised for significant growth because of the Affordable Care Act.
What is virtual care?
Virtual care is the ability for a patient to have a face-to-face video, chat or phone conversation with a doctor. It falls under telemedicine; however, virtual care is created with the patient in mind. Virtual care has numerous names such as telehealth, online care, video visits and e-visits.
4 Reasons Why Payers Will Embrace Telemedicine
1) Innovation and the Individual Market
Depending upon the various assumptions and inputs selected, the model projects that the individual health insurance market may increase from about 14 million purchasers in 2009 to as many as 72.7 million purchasers in 2020, as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
The individual market will be wide open soon. Payers need to find a way to differentiate themselves so that consumers will select them in the exchange. Online care is one key way and can be a key differentiator.
2) Accountable Care Organizations
An Accountable Care Organization is any organization that takes on the responsibility for achieving the triple aim – improving the quality, affordability and experience of care for the population it services.
The Affordable Care Act encourages ACOs to be formed and the number of ACOs continues to grow. Online care is an ideal strategy for payers and providers that are implementing ACOs. The solution can be used in many instances to improve quality of care. For example, a provider can require his patient to check-in on a routine basis using online care. From a patient perspective, the experience will be significantly better because they will have a more convenient option for care.
3) Patient-Centered Medical Homes
A PCMH seeks to match patients with a team of health care professionals who will primarily deliver their care. This team becomes responsible for the care of a patient’s full range of health needs throughout their lifetime.
Virtual care fits perfectly into this strategic model. Virtual care allows care to focused on the patient. And, in order for this to be successful, the patient needs to be accessible more often than in traditional care methods. Virtual care provides a very convenient and high quality option of care for patients because they can have the visit from their home. Virtual care becomes the modern day house call for the patient-centered medical home strategy.
4) Online, Social Media and Mobile Strategies
The growth in the individual market is causing payers to focus on their online strategies, similar to what happened to retail ten years ago. However, payers traditionally lack in innovation and leveraging online strategies for their customers. Social media is becoming more important for health care and the health care consumers. Only 6 percent of health care consumers agree that the use of social media sites has increased their overall awareness about products and services from health insurance companies that they did not know of before, and only 5 percent say that their use of social media sties has increased their overall engagement with their current insurance companies and their brand.
Payers need to have a reason to step up their online presence and to utilize Search Engine Marketing so that consumers and employers can find payers and their solutions.
There is a major opportunity to use virtual care as the cornerstone of a payer’s social media strategy.
Rajat Relan is an Editor at DistilNFO. In addition, he is a healthcare and IT consultant focusing on healthcare exchanges, telemedicine and other healthcare innovations. His previous experience includes Deloitte Consulting and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, where he launched their online care product. Rajat can be reached at rajat.relan@distilnfo.com.