2020 was grim in many ways, but you can’t deny it’s offered a fast-track education in healthcare strategy. Systemic weaknesses have been laid painfully bare, such as provider shortages and the fragility of populations with untreated chronic disease. At the same time, some of the year’s lessons hold game-changing potential. Many providers have recognized their blindness to an opportunity right in front of them – to carry their telemedicine application beyond simple video calls and into the terrain of treating chronic, infectious and acute disease.
And that realization has come in the nick of time. COVID-19 has monopolized the healthcare spotlight, but the patients suffering from cancer, diabetes and heart disease haven’t gone away. Many have been asked to delay biopsies, surgeries, and exams. To provide care safely, forward-thinking providers are using telemedicine to treat them remotely whenever possible and keep them out of hospitals and emergency departments.
But virtual care offers non-pandemic benefits, too. One important advantage: it helps mitigate the looming specialist shortage, such as the deficiency of oncologists predicted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. It’s a shortage that’s already dire in rural areas – where 19% of the U.S. population live, but only 7% of oncologists practice. For these patients, telemedicine is a lifeline to receiving medical expertise in their community.
Another advantage: radical cost savings for payers, patients, and healthcare systems. Maybe you remember an ominous report from the World Economic Forum and the Harvard School of Public Health which predicted chronic diseases would cost the global economy more than U.S. $30 trillion between 2010 and 2030. Only halfway through that timeframe, a global catastrophe has pushed healthcare costs into the stratosphere. Never have providers been under more pressure to deliver cost-effective care.
One caveat: only real telemedicine solutions can offer a complete evidence-based experience. Providers who rely on video-only solutions are restricted to basic video calls that can only treat issues like an ear infection or conjunctivitis. Providing responsible clinical care means using solutions that can capture data and integrate into the EHR so providers can see the full story of a patient’s health history. The right solution will also support specific workflows like oncology, behavioral health, cardiology, stroke, and other disciplines.
Equipped with those capabilities, telemedicine can transform a patient’s life. Consider these scenarios:
As well as treating patients on an individual level, some healthcare systems are taking a more panoramic view of care delivery – applying telemedicine in a targeted fashion to assist specific populations. One hospital implemented a virtual care program to address their community’s high rates of peripartum hypertension and infant mortality. By using telehealth to reach young mothers dealing with isolation and other stressors, the hospital has been able to offer tele-lactation help and connect new mothers to pediatric expertise. Similar programs are changing outcomes on a large scale in communities ravaged by opioid addiction, infectious disease outbreaks, or high rates of diabetes.
Ultimately, disease is a marathon, not a sprint. Its repercussions often involve financial losses, burdensome travel, and social deprivation, repercussions that can influence entire populations. Telehealth’s convenience and cost savings can mitigate all of those factors while elevating patient outcomes – not only in a pandemic but in the years to come.