As healthcare organizations leap over the telehealth chasm, they’re going to need secure, scalable infrastructure and a streamlined patient experience. This will require much-needed vendor consolidation and strategic integration.
Virtual care is a growing trend in specialized medicine that will expand as it becomes more convenient and culturally accepted. Expect to see more use of telehealth solutions for a variety of specializations including mental health, oncology and musculoskeletal care.
Trends and Predictions for Virtual Care in 2023
The past two years have seen the telehealth industry grow in popularity as patients look for alternative ways to receive care. A McKinsey & Company report revealed that telehealth use has increased 38X from the pre-COVID-19 baseline, making it a critical part of the healthcare system.
Despite the high level of adoption, there are still some major challenges that need to be overcome. These include ensuring parity and clarity in reimbursement, addressing healthcare disparities, and upgrading technology used to support telehealth.
In 2023, we expect to see more technological advances that allow consumers and health care professionals to access information and interact with each other. These technologies will help improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
With so much emphasis on technology, it’s important to focus on what’s truly important: the patient and their wellbeing. Putting human needs first is the key to delivering better outcomes and achieving the telehealth industry’s goal of improved health outcomes.
Unpredictability
Telehealth is the practice of providing healthcare services through remote communication, using electronic devices and technology to deliver a video consultation. It is a growing part of healthcare, with a focus on primary care physicians, specialist shortages and patients living in rural and underserved areas.
It also helps health systems improve care for those with chronic conditions, including pain management and treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Aside from being convenient, telehealth has many benefits that go beyond traditional office visits.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread, federal policy changes were made to allow people to receive care using popular video chat programs like Apple FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, Zoom and Skype. This helped to ensure that health care providers were able to provide services during the pandemic without disrupting patient access and compromising confidentiality.
Innovation
Telehealth is technology that enables your health care provider to communicate with you from outside the office. It includes computers, mobile devices and video conferencing.
This can include a doctor counseling you on flu prevention or a nurse delivering emergency medical care from a mobile van in a rural community. It may also include apps that allow you to track your symptoms and send data to your healthcare team.
Virtual care has the potential to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities. It can also reduce healthcare costs, increase efficiency and increase patient satisfaction.
Integration
The ability to deliver healthcare services virtually means that patients can be treated without ever leaving their home. It also allows health professionals to provide care at locations that are more convenient to the patient.
This flexibility has the potential to significantly increase patient access and satisfaction. Telehealth is already being used to deliver primary care in rural and isolated regions, address provider shortages and specialty scarcity, and improve care quality.
In addition to improving accessibility and patient satisfaction, telehealth can also help reduce costs. By reducing travel expenses and waiting times, virtual visits can reduce overall healthcare costs for the community.
There are many ways telehealth is being integrated into traditional health care systems, including live video, store and forward technology, remote patient monitoring (RPM), and mobile health (mHealth). These modalities can be combined with other digital technologies to offer more services, such as healthcare education.