The Future of Telehealth in the Face of Uncertainty
by Lea Chatham
In a year fraught with unprecedented crises and upheaval due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world has had to become more adept at adapting to ever-changing conditions and new realties. Aside from the immeasurable human tragedy of the virus, people now work, live, and receive healthcare differently than pre-COVID.
When it comes to healthcare, perhaps this adjustment is nowhere more pronounced than in the meteoric climb of telehealth. This virtual care technology has seemingly overnight transformed the industry—many would argue saved it—by enabling healthcare organizations to care for patients remotely when it wasn’t safe for office visits.
"COVID-19 caused us to prioritize who needs to be seen face-to-face to minimize our patients' risks, but with telemedicine and communications through our system, we were able to remain connected to our patients and ensure they received the care they need now," said Craig Dreher, chief information officer, Community Care Physicians. “That is good for us, and for the 370,000 patients we serve across upstate New York who needed us during the COVID crisis.”
In spring 2021, as hundreds of millions get COVID vaccines in arms and we begin to get an upper hand on the spread of the virus, the way we utilize telehealth may also be changing. It’s become less of a “break the glass in case of emergency” tool and more of a convenient and consumer-friendly alternative to in-person care for many types of visits. Eighty-three percent of patients say they’ll continue to schedule telehealth appointments even after the coronavirus. And it’s not just the younger, more tech-savvy generations gravitating toward telehealth. One in four older Americans participated in a virtual care visit in the first three months of the virus, compared to only four percent who had used telehealth prior to the pandemic.
Despite most providers and their patients being fully onboard with telemedicine, there remain obstacles and uncertainties on the road to its long-term viability and success. Providers themselves are unsure how telehealth will shape out in 2021. Potential opportunities to increase use of the tool include for chronic care management and mental health applications.
Then there’s the question of the Medicare reimbursement outlook. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will cover broad telehealth use as long as the COVID public health emergency (PHE) remains in effect, likely through 2021. But past that, it’s anyone’s guess. In the absence of the PHE, current legislation only allows Medicare to cover telehealth for limited situations.
Recent studies have also looked at racial disparities and potential barriers to telehealth use and access among underserved populations. One report found that while many Black and Hispanic patients tended to choose urgent and emergency care access at the height of COVID, white patients were more likely to use telehealth. Similarly, a another study found that communities with higher poverty rates had much lower rates of telehealth utilization. In actual telehealth visits, 66 percent of Black patients and 65 percent of Latino patients experienced problems with the virtual care encounter while 49 percent of white patients had a concern.
However, these issues are far from insurmountable and the reality is that once the telehealth cat was out of the bag, it would be near impossible to put it back in. Telehealth isn’t just popular, it’s also mutually beneficial for both providers and patients. Logistically and practically, it makes more sense for certain types of care such as follow-up visits, and it’s more cost effective for providers. Patients flock to telehealth because it offers huge time savings, and they can participate from the convenience and comfort of their home or office.
While it’s clear telehealth isn’t going away anytime soon, its long-term success may depend less on external issues and more on the quality of the actual patient experience. It’s quite possible for patients to have a valuable caregiver encounter and still have a very frustrating appointment. To overcome this, practices can start by viewing an appointment—whether it’s telehealth or in-person—as one in a series of patient interactions surrounding their healthcare journey. A single patient communication and engagement workflow that emphasizes a text-first approach and more meaningful connections at key points in the journey is more likely to deliver greater patient satisfaction and outcomes.
For example, a telehealth appointment should be bookended with important messaging. Automated text reminders can ensure a patient confirms and keeps the appointment. Texted pre-visit instructions and digital intake messages provide links and instructions on how to connect and to streamline check-in. Finally, post-appointment texts with care instructions and a survey help improve patient follow-up.
In spite of ongoing challenges and uncertainties telehealth looks to be a viable real-world care option for providers and patients now and well into the future. To maximize the opportunity, providers should seek to incorporate a text-first engagement approach and more refined appointment workflow that will lead to better patient experiences, increased loyalty, and improved outcomes.
Lea Chatham
Lea is the Director, Content Marketing at Solutionreach. She is responsible for developing educational resources to help medical practices improve the patient provider relationship. Lea spent over five years leading engagement at a small integrated health system and has 15 years of experience developing educational content for leading health IT companies. Follow her @leachatham
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