5 Ways to Build Trust in Telehealth & Our Role in Telehealth advancements

Has Telehealth plateaued or is it poised for continued growth???I'd bet on the latter.?

Enabling equitable, timely and efficient healthcare has been a catalyst of Telehealth advancement in a somewhat stabilized COVID-19 landscape. According to McKinsey in 2021, ?$250 billion of US healthcare spend was expected to be shifted towards virtual or virtually enabled care.?

While utilization of telehealth was estimated to be?38x higher since COVID-19?and the?Global Telehealth market ?is expected to progress at a?CAGR of 31.57% by 2027, recent data shows that?the 2020-2021?steep increase rate is declining.

Ongoing?barriers to Telehealth advancements?include cultural beliefs influencing low perceived value, lack of trust of virtual healthcare, weaker patient-doctor relationship, inequitable access to technology – such as language, devices, and broadband internet access - as well as data privacy and interoperability concerns, regulatory gaps, and lower reimbursements levels.??

With barriers, come opportunities.??Addressing these can help to?build trust in Telehealth?as a reliable vehicle to provide essential healthcare through:

1. combining in-person and virtual care?through redesigned high-touch and consumable healthcare pathways?linked to patient’s care needs.?

With regards to readiness for Telehealth,?convenient, coordinated and timely access to healthcare services are top of mind for US consumers?according to the CVS 2022 Health Care Insights Study.??Key stats as follows:???

• 62% of US consumers?say they are either very or somewhat?likely to use a virtual visit if they don’t need a physical examination1.??
• 83% of people want their primary care provider to know about their family medical history, genetics and inherited lifestyle habits1.?
• 85% of consumers state that it is important that their?primary care provider be aware of their prescription drugs prescribed by other healthcare providers.?
• 87% of providers strongly/somewhat agree that automated reminders like texts, calls, and phone notifications are valuable for treating patients with complex conditions and/or specialty medication needs.?
• 89% of consumers?who take specialty medications or have a complex condition said?medication refill reminders?by phone or text were very or somewhat important.

2.?????enabling secure access to care through?easy to use, reliable, engaging and affordable?technology?that matches patients’ healthcare needs.?

This brings a?fantastic opportunity for enhanced collaboration across consumer electronics, AI/ML, software services and communication technology industries, healthcare plan sponsors, governments, healthcare providers and payors.??

To drive this multi-industry collaboration toward results, these companies can leverage?consultants specialized in digital healthcare infrastructure, AI and ML to develop connected health ecosystems, with interoperable and integrated data, converted into meaningful insights which are securely passed into the hands of medical professionals and patients.?

3.?????leveraging apps, smartphones, tablets, implantable and wearable devices?as channels to provide coaching, preventive care, diagnose, post-virtual care follow ups and to monitor the intake of prescribed Rx specially for?chronically ill patients.

Why prioritize chronically ill patients???

?These are leading drivers of?$4.1 trillion?in annual US health care costs.

Globally, Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) kill 41 million people each year, equivalent to 74% of all deaths globally.?Cardiovascular diseases?account for most NCDs deaths, or 17.9 million people annually, followed by?cancers?(9.3 million),?chronic respiratory diseases?(4.1 million), and?diabetes?(2.0 million including kidney disease deaths caused by diabetes).

4.?????using?gamification?in medical professionals training and patient mentoring with smart nudges aligned with medical care pathways, making it fun and engaging to drive long lasting results.?

5.?????Building trust through enhanced patient experience in Telehealth.??Sharing results within communities as more people witness positive outcomes driven by Virtual/Virtual enabled care while securing that equitable access to the technology (i.e., broadband internet connection, devices, software and secure storage of individual health information).?

Behavior is contagious. It can be boosted through social norms, and perhaps by leveraging fact-checked testimonials sparked from trustworthy sources (as perceived by the targeted audience).?

When developing healthcare solutions for corporate clients, you may?rethink Telehealth solutions, integrated within the broader healthcare program to enhance access, quality and effectiveness of care.??Leaders responsible for designing corporate healthcare programs may consider:?

1. incorporating as global design principles inclusive Telehealth solutions that match patients’ healthcare needs to be integrated within your company offered healthcare programs.??
2. prioritizing high-touch & hybrid Telehealth solutions for chronically ill and underserved populations - combining Virtual Healthcare which includes Telemedicine as well as in-person care, based on patient accessibility and care needs - aimed to prevent depreciation of health, diagnose, coach, treat, and monitor improvement of health.???
3. co-creating with healthcare payors and providers the development of metrics to measure perceived quality of care, improvement of health and wellbeing as a result of implementing Telehealth solutions.?????????

All of us have a role to play in advancing equitable, inclusive, effective, and essential access to healthcare.??

What is yours??

This post reflects my opinion as a participant of the Columbia Executive program in Digital Transformation in Healthcare.??Hope it sparks your interest in Digital Health.

Jaqueline O.

References:

1. CVS 2022 Health Care insights study.?
2. Understanding Telehealth . Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
3. National Library of Medicine Telemedicine during COVID-19 Crisis and in Post-Pandemic/Post-Vaccine World ?
4. McKinsey. Telehealth : A quarter-trillion-dollar post-COVID-19 reality??
5. CDC. Understanding the profile of Telemedicine users among US adults .?
6. CDC. US Chronic Diseases .
7. WHO. Global Noncommunicable-diseases .?
8. Bloomberg. Global Telehealth Market growth in 2022.??

“Telehealth is described as the use of telecommunications and digital communication technologies to offer and facilitate health and health-related services such as medical care, provider and patient education, health information services, and self-care.

Telehealth provides consumers with quick access to health-related data. As a result, telehealth enables people to live better lives. It can also provide a healthcare provider with more direct access to crucial health data from patients, which can enhance health outcomes.” Global Telehealth market report

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Acknoledgements:

Editorial review, Rebecca Thomas, MBA, MPH

Columbia Executive Program in Digital Health Transformation, class of 2022

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