2019 signaled a strong upsurge of interest in telemedicine. Telehealth usage is rapidly expanding via remote patient monitoring and the healthcare virtual visit, in part, because some of the barriers to receiving payment for these services have been removed. Other factors pushing the expansion of these service lines include a severe shortage of clinical providers, an increased patient load due to the aging Baby Boomer population, and the increasingly high cost of care delivery. Even the shift from volume to value has driven population health initiatives that use telehealth to provide remote education for chronic diseases such as diabetes.
In general, healthcare providers are increasingly interested in empowering patients thanks to a growing level of consumerism for medical services. Together, all of these factors point the way toward widespread and accepted telehealth adoption across the United States in the coming years.
In all instances of care, telemedicine requires a shift in thinking about the traditional office visit, as well as the adoption of new workflows that disrupt our established approach to care delivery. How can the average clinical provider understand, first the benefits of this service and second, what considerations and strategies are necessary to roll out a new telemedicine service line and make it successful?
Telehealth’s Value Proposition for Patients and Doctors
To determine if telehealth is worth the effort your practice will put into planning and implementing telehealth, it’s first necessary to understand the value proposition inherent in the service. While a number of market factors are influencing increasing telemedicine adoption by doctors and their patients, what are the real benefits for using this technology to provide care?
Clinical providers and patients document strongly positive effects of telehealth. This positive outcome is true whether the service is for post-surgical rechecks or office visits and it encompasses multiple specialties. Chiefly, the value propositions for developing a telemedicine service line include:
- Lowered overhead costs for providing treatment.
- High patient satisfaction scores.
- Reduced ER visits and hospital readmissions.
- Optimization of existing resources and improved access to care.
- Patient quality scores that as high as in-person visits.
- Advancing patient-centered care.
While some of the obstacles to telehealth implementation have been the high cost of purchasing equipment, today’s telemedicine services are as close and low-cost as a phone app. For example, OrthoLive offers a HIPAA-compliant service that does not have a high upfront cost. These types of software-as-a-service offerings were designed to democratize a specific type of technology to make it affordable and easier to use.
Licensure has traditionally been a hurdle to telehealth adoption, but interstate compacts are trying to ease the burden in order to facilitate faster adoption of the technology. Once these barriers are overcome, then how can providers create a sustainable telemedicine service line for their targeted patients?
Sustaining a Telemedicine Service Line in Your Practice
Telehealth brings together patient communities, caregivers, and technology. Understanding the trends that will affect the service in your practice is crucial. Considering the target audience for the telehealth rollout is an important first step toward marketing the practice. Other considerations include:
- What is the size of the market?
- What community needs are you attempting to fulfill?
- Who are your competitors?
- Is your practice prepared to seek reimbursement in this new area?
- How can telehealth integrate with your current technology?
- What customer trends will impact the new service?
Researching outcomes are just as important as engaging your staff in the success of the program. This includes your doctors, who are crucial Also gauging the interest of your target patient base and carefully introducing the service are all important to the successful launch of your program.
Ironically, mHealth Intelligence states, “Independent and family practice doctors looking to launch a successful telemedicine practice should not make choosing a vendor their top priority.” That’s because successful telehealth programs require considerable strategic groundwork to be laid well before the technology is selected. Knowing what your goals are and what your patients want is a far more important first step than buying the technology.
For the practice considering their first telehealth launch, there should be a clear understanding of when telehealth is appropriate and at what point even during the virtual visit that it’s time to see the patient face-to-face. Establishing these protocols in advance will help you identify a more effective workflow for the service line.
But What About the Small Practice?
“Telemedicine holds a lot of promise to help medical practices promote efficiency, reduce costs, and increase patient satisfaction.”
Medical Economics reports “Three-quarters of U.S. hospitals either have consumer telehealth services in place or plan to implement the capabilities by the end of 2019.” What’s happening in the industry now is that major healthcare players are investing in telehealth. CVS now offers a virtual visit option. Apple and Amazon are moving in, and employers and insurers are offering the service. With the increasing pressure of competition, what will smaller independent practice networks do to compete? While consumer adoption of telemedicine hasn’t exploded yet, all the trends show that convenience along will push the use of these services into a generally accepted part of the mainstream healthcare experience. Medical Economics had this to say about the pressure most practices will soon feel to adopt a telehealth service line:
77% of consumers would be more likely to select medical providers that offer telemedicine services—and that the majority of patients who use telemedicine appreciate its convenience. The findings suggest physicians may be underestimating consumer interest in telemedicine options—both now and in the future.
For practices considering a telehealth service line, it’s important to recognize that, while we can extrapolate best practices from hospitals, medical practices are a unique subset of healthcare delivery that run far differently from a hospital. While there are similarities between hospital-owned practices and independent providers, each medical practice is a microcosm of unique considerations. No matter the provider, developing strategies prior to vendor selection and a telehealth rollout are imperative in all of these cases.
OrthoLive offers options for orthopedic practices seeking to explore telehealth. For a free demo of our software, contact us.
