Telehealth Trends in 2022

The Telehealth Industry

Telehealth is a class of digital tools designed to connect patients to health care services through remote patient monitoring, digital consults/communications, video calls, etc., of which, virtual telemedicine or “telehealth” visits remain the most common.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, adoption rates of telemedicine have skyrocketed and health care providers are enjoying the benefits. Increasing rates of patient satisfaction, the ability to provide efficient and quality care, and minimized costs have also led to more practices implementing telehealth tools [1]. Because more and more providers have realized the benefits that telemedicine can provide, it’s become well known that increasing the use of telehealth technology in one’s practice is a greatly effective strategy for improving health care outcomes and leads to a healthier, better practice as well.

But, telehealth is so much more than telemedicine video visits. Telehealth services provide many benefits for health care providers as well as their patients, and those benefits continue to grow as technology evolves.

The Rise of Telemedicine

Prior to the pandemic, telemedicine encounters took up a very small 0.3% of all health care interactions. At this time, it was clear that both providers and patients had not been interested in implementing new technology, especially since most weren’t aware of the benefits that it could provide. 

The pandemic changed this drastically. In the first three months, telemedicine encounters increased by 766%, rising from that 0.3% to 23.6% of all health care interactions [2]. From here, the amount of providers using telemedicine increased greatly. 

As telemedicine has become more and more of an integral part of patient care, providers have come to see that it reduces costs, increases profit, and elevates patient satisfaction. With the impact that telemedicine has made on the health care landscape, technology growth has accelerated. And data suggests it will continue to grow.

Here are some telemedicine trends to keep an eye on this year:

1. Insurance Coverage for Telemedicine

With the rapid growth and success of telemedicine that we’ve seen since the pandemic, insurance companies have started to see the benefits that telemedicine can provide. Many insurers have introduced virtual care insurance plans or have stretched their coverage for telemedicine services so that patients can have an affordable way to access virtual health care. 

Since it’s been a couple of years since the start of the pandemic, most insurance providers now cover, at the least, some form of telemedicine service. In fact, 42 states as well as the District of Columbia require private insurance providers to reimburse telemedicine [3]. This way, insurance companies can make it simple for patients to experience the benefits of an efficient telemedicine option. 

As long as the popularity and benefits of telemedicine continue to grow, including telemedicine coverage in insurance plans should become the norm. This will create much more value in health care for both providers and patients. 

2. Advanced Data Protection

One of the main concerns that both providers and patients were likely to have as telemedicine became more popular was privacy. It was easy to be hesitant to discuss personal health information with providers or patients online. However, steps have since been taken to ensure that health information given during telemedicine visits is protected by privacy rules. 

HIPAA rules keep both paper and digital medical histories of patients private, including what is shared during telemedicine visits. This is possible due to the fact that telemedicine technology utilizes encryption to protect the privacy of patients [1]. Encryption makes data unreadable to anyone else online, which secures the virtual environment for communicating during telemedicine visits. 

As the popularity and capabilities of telemedicine services continues to increase, health care organizations should be expected to continue investing in new technology and processes that will guarantee data security and identify/alleviate possible risks. 

3. Providers Will Have More Time with Patients

As mentioned earlier, one of the biggest benefits of telemedicine is convenience. This is because it cuts out travel time, waiting time, and time lost due to possible conflicts such as traffic causing a patient to arrive late. While these time cuts are addressing the convenience of patients, the use of telemedicine also gives the convenience factor for providers. 

Since telemedicine provides easy access to health care regardless of geographic barriers, providers may find themselves being able to spend more quality time with their patients. With in-person visits, providers may find themselves trying to rush through each appointment in order to keep a timely pace going throughout the office. This likely prevents them from asking important questions, getting to know their patients, and providing proper and efficient care. 

With virtual visits, however, providers have the ability to do all of those things and more. Telemedicine gives providers a new type of accessibility to their patients. And as more and more patients/providers adapt to telemedicine, providers will continue to find themselves likely to spend more time with patients one-on-one. As a plus, this will inevitably increase patient satisfaction, and likely even patient compliance. 

4. A Solution for Provider Shortages

The Association of American Medical Colleges has predicted that the United States could see an estimated shortage of between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034, including shortfalls in both primary and specialty care [4]. This would be a major issue as the amount of people in need of health care continues to increase.

Because of the convenience and accessibility that telemedicine provides, it might just be the solution that is needed. Provider shortages have already proven to be an issue throughout the craze that the pandemic caused, and telemedicine was one of the big factors that helped mitigate the issue. 

If telemedicine continues to grow in popularity at the rate that it currently is, the efficiencies that it provides will keep increasing and should be able to provide a simple solution for any shortages we may see in the future. 

5. Expansion Into New Medical Fields

As telemedicine has proven to be efficient and effective for primary health care, more specific medical fields may be expected to adopt telemedicine and utilize it in their practice. Specialties such as dentistry, dermatology, neurology, allergy/immunology, and more have already started to benefit from telemedicine, and it’s probably not long until other specialties follow. 

Almost every medical field can likely make use out of telemedicine, even if it just has to be for smaller visits or situations. While there are obviously instances where patients will need to visit in-person, there are still opportunities where telemedicine can be used, such as consultations or follow-ups. As long as more providers in different fields continue to voice their satisfaction with telemedicine, we can expect to see it expand into more and more fields of medicine. 

How Can Telehealth Tools Help Providers?

Telehealth’s most notable benefits are arguably its are convenience, comfort and efficiency. Through this technology, you and your patients can meet from virtually anywhere. Your patients won’t have to take time out of their busy schedule to visit your office and likewise, if you’re out of the office, you and your staff can manage still your patient load.

Today’s telemedicine technology also allows for group visits , if you’re looking to evaluate and educate multiple patients at once. Telemedicine provides these convenience benefits for all parties involved. It can also help prevent your patients from spreading an illness they may have, allow you to provide better assessments for your patients, allow family members to join in on the visit, increase access to health care, and many more benefits.

Whether it’s to save time, money or to provide the best care possible for your patients, the vast improvements in this space will certainly allow for greater outcomes across all verticals of medicine.

Remote Patient Care Platform – Going Beyond Telemedicine

If you’re looking for telemedicine tools to assist you in virtually meeting with your patients and also guiding their steps between encounters, check out BodySite.com. BodySite offers HIPAA-compliant messaging/telemedicine paired with an automated patient education system, and a robust practice management suite to help provide better care for your patients, even remotely.

Click here for a 30-Day Free Trial of the BodySite platform; click here to learn more about the BodySite solution.

 

SOURCES:

1. Gajarawala, Shilpa N, and Jessica N Pelkowski. “Telehealth Benefits and Barriers.” The Journal for Nurse Practitioners : JNP, Elsevier Inc., Feb. 2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7577680/. 

2. Shaver, Julia. “The State of Telehealth before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Primary Care, Elsevier Inc., 25 Apr. 2022, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9035352/. 

3. “Private Insurance Coverage for Telehealth.” Telehealth.HHS.gov, https://telehealth.hhs.gov/providers/billing-and-reimbursement/private-insurance-coverage-for-telehealth/. 

4. “AAMC Report Reinforces Mounting Physician Shortage.” AAMC, 11 June 2021, https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/press-releases/aamc-report-reinforces-mounting-physician-shortage.