As telemedicine grows in popularity among both providers and patients, major healthcare players are upping their investment.
In 2015, more than 50 percent of all patient interactions at Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente took place virtually, according to a Fortune report. Kaiser CEO Bernard J. Tyson discussed the move toward telemedicine in his organization at the Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, from Oct. 4 to Oct. 7.
More than 110 million interactions occurred between our physicians and Kaiser staff last year — a first for the organization, noted Mr. Tyson. And more than 52 percent of those interactions took place using smartphones, videoconferencing and other health technology solutions.
"[Patients are] asking different questions, they're behaving more like consumers, and medical information now is becoming a critical part of how they're making life choices," Mr. Tyson said, according to the report.