In a recent report, telemedicine was found to be more commonly used and accepted today than it was a few years ago, but it is still struggling to be fully implemented by many hospitals and physicians.
The study, done by telehealth provider Avizia and the Modern Healthcare media group, also determined that one of the issues that might be slowing more widespread adoption of telehealth is the need for documented proof of better patient outcomes.
Since 2010 when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, more than 16 million uninsured Americans have gained health coverage. This means there is a tremendous surge in healthcare demand, and many people believe telemedicine answers to that need.
So, by opening up access to medical care via a virtual appointment with a doctor, telemedicine breaks the boundaries set by having to have a face-to-face appointment to receive a basic diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, and prescriptions.
According to the Avizia study, 63% percent of healthcare providers use telehealth in some way. Of those who use it, 72% are in hospitals and health systems, 52% are in physician groups and clinics, and 36% are in other provider organizations, like ambulatory centers and nursing homes, for example.
What is Slowing Telemedicine’s Wide-Spread Use?
According to a recent report on USA Today, there are a couple reasons why telemedicine is not red-hot in popularity just yet. Ron Gutman, CEO HealthTap, a virtual care company, says his company focuses on one major concern among the critics of telehealth – that it doesn’t emphasize the importance of an ongoing relationship with a primary care doctor.
Experts seem to agree that while a virtual appointments serve patients well, there should still be strong communication between a doctor and his patient and data must be easily accessible. This documentation could also give credence to the claim that telemedicine is producing strong patient outcomes.
So, an effective telemedicine platform should ideally create ongoing patient and doctor dialogue to ensure that nothing about the patient’s data and information slips through the cracks. Everything must be documented and readily available to health care providers. But, ensuring this takes place seems to be an area of concern.
“Getting hospitals, physicians, health plans and telehealth companies on the same page will be critical to moving healthcare forward and improving public health.” stated Alan Pitt, chief medical Officer at Avizia and attending physician and professor of neuroradiology at the Barrow Neurological Institute.
In fact, this latest study disproves the belief that the potential patients are the roadblock to wider-spread adoption of telehealth.
The real challenges seem to be:
- Finding the necessary funding for the technology it requires (to ensure reliable patient/doctor communication and data support).
- Documented evidence that telemedicine will save money and improve the health of those patients who utilize it.
- Reimbursement and payment structures present challenges for both patient and physician. Forty-eight percent of providers who use telehealth cited issues with reimbursement as a huge barrier to its use, while 28% who don’t offer telehealth cited it as a barrier to implementing it.
- State laws and regulations are proven barriers to the adoption of telehealth technologies. According to the Avizia study, those in smaller states (population up to 4 million) are more likely to encounter regulatory issues within their states (medical licensure) than those in larger states using telehealth.
- In contrast, demand in larger states may be less. Healthcare providers in large states (population 8 million to 14.9 million) were found by the study to be least likely among all state groups to use telehealth, possibly due to fewer physician shortages.
But there are some steps in the right direction for greater adoption of telehealth measures across the country.
Progress in Telehealth Making the News:
- Legislation signed by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey will require health plans to pay for telemedicine state-wide beginning in 2018. This overrides the state’s current “parity” law said plans only had to pay for telemedicine in rural and medically underserved areas. Twenty-eight states and Washington, D.C., have telemedicine payment parity laws, according to Politico.
- In 2016 a group of senators introduced the CONNECT for Health Act, which would remove many of the restrictions to telehealth and remote monitoring under Medicare.
- The VA offers telehealth care now, but wants to expand it. Telemedicine initiatives by the VA have reduced readmissions of patients to hospitals by 32 percent, and decreased total psychiatric admissions by 35 percent.
- The largest telehealth provider, Teladoc, announced it plans to launch their first chronic care management program by the end of 2016 and will target cardiovascular disease or diabetes care.
- Telehealth provider American Well said it plans to allow health plan customers to choose a doctor for a virtual visit.
- With more than 100,000 doctors using their platform, HealthTap partnered with Facebook to provide their services through the Messenger app.
It is believed that as many as 15% of patient in-person visits with their doctor could be replaced by telemedicine visits. Essentially, the medical issues behind those visits fit the criteria for proper diagnosis and treatment via a telemedicine appointment. The medical issues include, for example, the common cold, urinary tract infections, skin rashes, bronchitis, allergic reactions and many others, all of which can be easily addressed through an electronic appointment.
According to a Willis Towers Watson internal analysis, telemedicine has the potential to exponentially lower health care costs, by as much as $6 billion annually, for U.S. employers. With 67% of employers offering telemedicine today and 90% expected to by 2018, telemedicine is an important, cost-effective choice in health care options for the future.
In fact, according to recent surveys, many hospitals (and insurance companies) are supporting the move to telemedicine because it has proven to reduce hospital stays and cut associated costs. It was found that the average cost of an online consultation with a doctor is about $50, versus an average of $80 for an in-office visit.
How Could Telemedicine Work for You?
When you are sick or need the advice of a doctor, you would be able to choose whether you must head to the doctor’s office or hospital or simply pick up your smartphone or log onto your computer for a consultation. The doctor-patient relationship simply is easier to manage and answers as to what ails you are easier, and faster, to obtain.
Telemedicine is popular among patients looking for an affordable and convenient way to address common health concerns, without being required to have a face-to-face doctor’s appointment for a physical examination.
Trusted companies like eDrugstore, use telemedicine and online medical consultations, for common health issues like male impotence, to increase patient access to medications and health care. eDrugstore is not new to using telemedicine either, with a history of using this patient-friendly way to improve healthcare delivery since 1998.
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