More Companies Warming Up to Telemedicine

Telemedicine, put simply, is the use of electronic communications for exchange of medical information, either from physician to patient, or among physicians.

Telemedicine reduces wait times, delivers care to remote areas, increases efficiency of care delivery, cuts costs, and improves patient satisfaction.

Employers are becoming more interested in telemedicine lately due to continued increases in medical costs. Pricewaterhouse Coopers Health Research Institute expects medical costs to increase 6.5% in 2014. Many employers have implemented consumer-drive healthcare plans, which increase consumer out-of-pocket medical expenses, and telemedicine may offer ways to offset some of those out-of-pocket costs.

Telemedicine Gaining Acceptance

Individuals, companies, and healthcare providers are rapidly warming to the concept of telemedicine. In 2011, the telemedicine market was worth around $11.5 billion , up from $9.8 billion in 2009, according to a report by BCC Research. Projections about telemedicine for the next five years are optimistic, with annual growth estimates at 18.6%.

While there are things telemedicine can’t do, like setting broken bones or performing surgery, it can be used for a lot of routine care, including diagnosis of common ailments, and prescription of drugs like antibiotics, low-strength pain medications, and prescription allergy medications. It can save time on the part of the patient, the physician, and medical practice employees.

Using Analytics to Reduce Uncertainty

Proponents of telemedicine are investing in the latest in leading edge technology to improve service delivery. For example, Jefferson Health Systems, associated with Thomas Jefferson University, is using mathematical modeling and medical analytics to reduce uncertainty in medical practices. They’ve turned to non-healthcare industries, such as finance and sports, and are learning how those industries use analytics for better accuracy. They’re also learning how the business concept of “big data” can lead to high quality healthcare delivery via telemedicine. Jefferson is also exploring telemedicine as an entrepreneurial focus, and even requires participants to study art in order to improve observational skills.

Telemedicine as an Employee Benefit

Companies are starting to adopt telemedicine as part of their employee benefits packages. In some industries, the investment can be hugely advantageous. For example, in geological engineering or oil and gas firms, employees work remotely for periods of days or weeks at a time, and telemedicine can prevent a 100-mile drive to a doctor’s office, or prevent scheduling difficulties when an employee has the need for healthcare during on-duty times.

Denver-based Columbine Logging, for example, pays $6 per month per employee for a telemedicine benefit from First Stop Health, a Chicago company. This benefit is in addition to the standard healthcare benefit package, and it lets employees working remotely get healthcare without leaving the jobsite. The worker doesn’t have to lose a day’s pay, and the company doesn’t have to find a substitute worker when routine medical complaints arise.

Benefits to Employers for Telemedicine

Less face-time with doctors helps keep rising healthcare costs under control. Companies that offer workers a telemedicine benefit in addition to a standard health insurance plan could end up saving 25% on medical costs. For self-insured companies, those savings go directly to the company’s bottom line, and with non-self-insured companies, the savings can result in lower premiums (or a slower rate of premium increases). In a typical family of four, there are 14 doctor visits per year, and an estimated eight of those are situations that could be handled by telemedicine.

Telemedicine is also good for worker productivity. A typical medical appointment can easily require taking half a day off work, or more if a trip to a pharmacy is necessary. First Stop Health CEO Patrick Spain says that when self-insured companies get 15 to 20% of employees to use telemedicine services, the investment is repaid three to four times.

Google Helpouts

Late last year, internet juggernaut Google unveiled Google Helpouts, a service that would allow people to pay for a Google Hangout video chat session in a variety of applications, including telemedicine. Rather than using a phone call to access medical advice, users could use Google Hangouts. For now, Google is screening the people and companies that want to provide services through Helpouts, and hopes that user reviews will help control the quality of the providers who offer services.

Google Helpouts are HIPAA-compliant, and Google is checking up on credentials for any medical providers who are interested in participating. Right now there’s no framework for getting Helpout sessions covered by health insurance, but the company believes that this type of medical care delivery could become routine in the future.

Successfully Implementing Telemedicine as an Employee Benefit

Successfully implementing telemedicine as an employee benefit requires shifting employee attitudes toward how they access medical services. Getting employee participation in a company-offered telemedicine benefit requires an effective communication campaign as well as employee education. Some providers of telemedicine benefits include employee education and communication kits with their packages to help ensure that companies achieve the benefits that they’re paying for.

More Americans are covered by some form of health insurance now, and this is expected to release a lot of pent-up demand on physicians’ time. That could mean less physician availability, and longer wait times for patients for minor medical ailments. The next step beyond availability of healthcare is timely access, and this is an issue that telemedicine could help considerably with.

While telemedicine’s most obvious uses are by people who live in remote areas or otherwise wouldn’t have access to medical care, it offers many other benefits. For the parent of a sick toddler who doesn’t want to wait two hours in a pediatrician’s waiting room full of sick kids, to the recently diagnosed diabetic who needs advice on dietary matters or self-care, telemedicine could answer a lot of medical needs with greater convenience and ultimately lower cost than traditional medical services delivery.

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