Telehealth Services: The Long-term Importance of Remote Technology Solutions in Healthcare
As with many industries throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare has gone digital. While telehealth services are nothing new, the sudden urgency for contactless medical care has caused their popularity to skyrocket in recent months.
Government entities, including the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, have categorized telehealth services into four distinct applications:
Synchronous: real-time video conferencing using two-way audiovisual connections between patient and healthcare provider
Asynchronous: store-and-forward technology, such as web forms and patient portals, forwarded from patient to healthcare provider for non-instantaneous communication
Remote patient monitoring (RPM):
Mobile health (mHealth): healthcare and public health information in the form of text messages and health alerts transmitted from providers to patient mobile devices
As a result of the pandemic, all of these solutions have proven valuable in the ability for healthcare providers to appropriately triage health-related incidents while reducing the use of precious PPE and simultaneously limiting risk of exposure to infectious illnesses, such as Covid-19.
While telehealth services have been sparsely used since their inception, they have seen a dramatic increase in utilization correlated with the spread of Covid-19. Between March 2020 and June 2020, roughly 23.6% of all healthcare visits were conducted via telehealth applications compared to just 0.3% during the same period the previous year (Weiner et al, 2021). As with remote conferencing solutions, such as Zoom, which have become commonplace in offices around the world, telehealth services offer a type of convenience that is not going away anytime soon. With the global shift towards flexible work, remote learning, and the convenience of grocery delivery services, people are realizing that physical interaction is not always necessary to get the job done. Consumers are finding themselves wondering why they should spend valuable time commuting or money on childcare when they could easily access non-life-threatening healthcare services from the comfort of home.
While vital during the pandemic, telehealth services are not just temporary solutions but permanent fixtures in a new environment where remote technology services reign supreme. As such, communication technology services within the realm of healthcare need to adapt to this cultural shift by offering the latest and greatest telehealth solutions and support to their healthcare provider base in engaging patients. Those involved in this realm need to understand the increasing importance of telehealth services as within the overall healthcare market.
At Communication Company, our dedicated healthcare representatives can assist you in finding the best telehealth solutions for your providers that will become permanent fixtures in their practices for years to come.
For more information on telehealth technology, contact Lynnetta Cleary at LCleary@communication-co.com or phone 574.299.0020.
Sources:
Lagasse, Jeff. “Telehealth Visits Have Skyrocketed for Older Adults, but Concerns Remain.” Healthcare Finance News, HIMSS Media, 19 Aug. 2020, www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/telehealth-visits-have-skyrocketed-older-adults-concerns-remain.
“Telemedicine and Telehealth.” HealthIT.gov, 24 Sept. 2020, www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-health-care-settings/telemedicine-and-telehealth.
“Using Telehealth to Expand Access to Essential Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10 June 2020, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/telehealth.html.
Weiner JP, Bandeian S, Hatef E, Lans D, Liu A, Lemke KW. In-Person and Telehealth Ambulatory Contacts and Costs in a Large US Insured Cohort Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(3):e212618. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.2618.