Telemedicine and the Value of Virtual Care
Telemedicine realized its full potential in the face of the Corona pandemic. It only took a year for Telemedicine to become the main initiative in the fight against the Covid-19 virus nationwide.
What now? Since Covid-19 vaccines are an ongoing process in the fight against the pandemic. The vaccines only offer a slow and steady solution to the mounting pressures of Covid-19. Given these facts one may ask, what role does virtual care have in this pandemic? Is this remote care here to stay or is it just a passing phase just during the pandemic?
Telehealth is Here to Stay
The American Medical Association does not see Telemedicine as a passing phase even after the Corona Virus is long gone. When 50% of healthcare agencies use virtual health services during the pandemic is a clear indication that telemedicine will remain a useful tool for healthcare facilities.
We see how virtual health rises to the challenges presented by the pandemic.
Steph Wilding is the CEO of Chicago’s Community Health, which is the largest free-based volunteer health organization. According to him, we found that being forced to change with the current situation, we can determine which type of visit is most beneficial for the patient, whether it is an in-person, telephone, or virtual visit.
Currently, 40% of the visits are either being done by phone or video.
The use of remote care at Tuscon Medical Center gave our medical staff the ability to use their time more efficiently. Instead of running from patient to patient, we were able to be in one spot and make our rounds that way saving our medical staff tons of time.
Virtual Medicine Allows the Use Their Staff More Efficiently
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In a physical HealthCare setting place and space are critical for proper care. Health facilities must have enough space for patients, doctors, equipment, and administrative staff. Most importantly is that all the necessary parties and equipment must be in the same place at the same time.
Because of the advent of telemedicine, all the above does not need to be in the same place at the same time. So, Chicago’s Community Health was able to establish a hybrid model of telehealth hubs or microsites throughout Chicago. These microsites give patients in Chicago to go to a location near them and receive the care they need whether it is virtual or onsite making the care given by Chicago Community Health much more efficient.
Each healthcare facility needs to decide how they will be using virtual healthcare in their organization.
Remote Care has Empowered Patients with More Options
Because of the consumerization of healthcare technologies, the consumer or patient has more control over their medical care. The patient can make an appointment anytime to receive medical care just by logging into their Healthcare Agency’s home healthcare software program. This is a win-win for the healthcare Agency and their client. Since the provider still has a schedule and is on-demand from the patient. So, we see that this works for both sides.
Because there is a disconnection between the actual care and the location, this creates a major opportunity for both the patient and the healthcare organization in that there is no need for them to be in the same place at the same time.
Another aspect of change that is evolving from remote care is in payment and regulation policies. We saw that in the month of December the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a list of covered health services for Covid-19. The effect was huge in that it greatly expanded healthcare facilities to deliver on-demand healthcare within the patient’s budget. We see that the broader coverage made it possible for the provider to still be profitable while giving patients-centric services.
There is no guarantee that CMS’ coverage schedule will remain the same if the pandemic pressures ease up. What will remain the same is the proof that remote health is on par with in-person visits. Compliance is key especially when it comes to data. More and more data are being collected and stored on the cloud and in healthcare agencies. The data must have storage compliances, so erasure and transmissions are guarded.
In the current situation, we are in a public emergency with the Covid-19 pandemic nationwide. Because of this situation, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services will not impose any fines for non-compliance with the rules imposed by HIPPA against the covered healthcare facilities in compliance with the good faith provision of virtual health during the pandemic of Covid-19 public health emergency. Even though that the suspension of penalties will not last forever, healthcare providers are still required to have access and security management controls in place to make sure as normalcy comes back again the risk remains under control.
The Future of Telemedicine
For most, hybrid models will be the future of virtual care. Patients will continue to have face-to-face visits as well as remote ones. Telemedicine is here to stay but as the pandemic decreases and life starts getting back to normal the face-to-face visits will increase while remote health is dialed back. After all, there is no stronger connection between a patient and their doctor in a face-to-face visit.
