Ensuring that patients have access to care when and where they need it is a challenge as old as healthcare itself. Though it’s a historical issue, the provision of readily accessible care has never been more important. Expected physician shortages and mandates from health reform are shining a critical light on how, when, and where providers are delivering care.
As providers experiment with innovative scheduling models, and as care moves to nontraditional settings such as retail pharmacies, telemedicine is increasingly becoming a viable alternative for reaching patients who are located in remote areas, unable to travel, or want a more convenient healthcare experience.
Telemedicine employs technological and virtual platforms (email, smartphones, two-way video, etc.) to enable providers to improve the accessibility, coordination, and quality of care. Through remote monitoring, providers can manage patients with chronic diseases that may not require regular in-person consultations; enhance provider collaboration through physician-to-physician teleconsults; and send reminders, via text messages and alerts, to take medications or fill prescriptions.
The concept of telemedicine is not new. The technologies to deliver care remotely have existed for years (or even decades). But healthcare providers have historically been slow to adopt telemedicine as a substantial patient care access channel. Few, if any, payors have offered reimbursement for care delivered electronically, giving providers little incentive to pursue telemedicine. In addition, providers have had legitimate concerns about the cost of implementing telemedicine technologies. The time associated with training personnel who will use them and the potential for errors in diagnosing and/or treating patients from afar are also points of trepidation. Click here to continue >>
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker’s Hospital Review/Becker’s Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.
