Telehealth Trends to Watch
- Interactive Healthcare
- Chronic Condition Management
- Integration
- Affordable Pricing
- Universal Access
The time for telehealth has come. As the market for healthcare technology continues to grow and expand in the next few years, the healthcare system will also change. Here are five trends to watch.
1. Interactive Healthcare
With more secure patient platforms becoming available on the Internet, patients will have increased access to their healthcare providers as well as their own healthcare data. Owing to secure video conferencing, data analysis, and mobile health tracking, patients can now take a more proactive approach to their health, including taking care into their own hands. Soon, it will be possible for a patient to diagnose, improve, and maintain his or her health without physically going into the office. Even something as basic as viewing your provider’s available appointments and scheduling your own online will change the way we practice medicine. This interactive healthcare approach will replace the more traditional model in which people remain in the dark regarding their condition until they meet with a physician in-person to discuss their results. Technology will make managing your health easier by opening up new possibilities for implementing wellness-oriented habits and lifestyles.
2. Chronic Condition Management
Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. are living with five or more chronic conditions, and doctors may be reimbursed up to $40 per month for every patient they meet with who is living with two or more chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes. Interacting with these patients becomes increasingly easier and more possible with telehealth technology. A provider may be reimbursed for analyzing data he or she receives from the home tracking device or for monthly check-in appointments. The rise of this technology ultimately means that the quality of care for patients with chronic conditions will also increase.
3. Integration
With new apps becoming available nearly every day, there are only so many that providers and patients can open during treatment. In other words, we can’t afford to be slowed down by big data. Telehealth is aimed to be the pipeline that connects these new technologies, providing a link through which providers can communicate with patients in order to make the best possible decisions regarding treatment. Platforms will be integrated without complications into the data analytics software used by remote devices. In addition, as more medical records are becoming electronic, cloud-based solutions will also come standard, ensuring that the transfer of healthcare data is simple yet secure.
4. Affordable Pricing
Implementing telehealth as part of a physician’s health platform is more efficient and cost-effective than ever, mainly due to technological advances in cloud-based infrastructure. A number of telemedicine technologies work immediately without need for additional installation or set-up procedures. The costs associated with building technical integrations and managing data that were once too expensive for smaller clinics are more affordable, and now, the infrastructure is available to make adopting telehealth a possibility in even single-provider clinics.
5. Universal Access
Previously, telehealth was highly centralized, and one hospital would administer these services to other sites. Now, however, this technology is available for medical practices of all scales and sizes as patients can either access their doctors from home or visit a local clinic where a nurse can speak in real time with a remote physician. This universal access to healthcare streamlines the process, opening up many possibilities. Physicians can collaborate across state lines, and one day, physicians from different countries may be able to work together using telehealth services.
It goes without saying that telehealth is here to stay. From increasing patients’ accessibility to their providers to changing the way providers communicate with one another regarding a patient’s condition, telehealth is rapidly growing and changing every day.
