From the distant past of the 1990s until just a few years ago, many healthcare technologists predicted that telemedicine would become mainstream in healthcare delivery.
Today, thanks to many factors surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has finally become mainstream. And now that it’s being used aggressively across the country, the big question is: What’s next?
We spoke with a renowned expert in the telehealth world, Dr. Roy Schoenberg, president and CEO of Amwell, one of the major players in health technology and services from afar, for his views on how his predictions from last year play out and where virtualization is. care topped in 2023.
q. You predicted last year that by 2022 we will see exciting advances in remote patient monitoring and automation powered by the patients who need them most. How did that prediction turn out?
ONE. Technologies that automate care and remote patient monitoring are not only becoming more advanced, but the use cases they provide are also maturing rapidly. Today, we are seeing automation applications that go beyond mimicking clinicians and are instead used to help patients manage the realities they face in their moments between appointments. visits when they are not in front of the clinician.
I predict this field will grow faster in the coming years because it means that technology can really assist the clinicians who are there as their patients more often in a cost-effective way. . As industry struggles to keep up with workforce shortages and cope with financial constraints, technology that can serve doctors and patients, while financially viable, will become popular.
However, we are just beginning to learn a little bit about what RPM and automated care programs can do to promote more patient-centered, value-driven care. We can transform lives and quality of life by expanding the reach of clinicians through digital technology and empowering people to lead their healthiest lives.
Q. You also predict that by 2022, patients will interact with healthcare both physically and through technology – integrative care. How did it turn off?
ONE. 2022 is a year to advance the understanding that digital care is more than just video conferencing. People are now accepting the fact that digital care is not just about changing where care takes place but also how care happens.
By treating it like a real delivery arm, you can see how you can manage a patient’s condition differently, you can reach customers differently, you can motivate patients take a more active role in their health care – this is a powerful reinterpretation of traditional models of care.
Mixed care models that combine real and virtual interactions are the first iteration that has seen this understanding take place, and we’ve seen these models accelerate dramatically. The next stage is hybrid care models that combine physical, virtual, and automated interactions.
This is the type of digital care delivery that we focus on helping our clients achieve through an integrated platform approach that enables a seamless, well-coordinated care experience. on all settings.
Q. What two predictions do you have for 2023 regarding technological advances in telemedicine?
ONE. In 2023, we will continue to see the influence of digital health in completely reimagining the approach and delivery of healthcare. It is a transformation that will be sparked not only by consumer demand for digital care but also by clinician preferences.
In fact, physician-initiated digital care will outpace patient-initiated virtual interactions in the future, with the clinician becoming the leading usage promoter. That’s a trend we’re already starting to see.
We have reached the point where doctors and nurses are prescribing virtual care. In physician operations, medical assistants are triaging patients for virtual encounters when the way they are seen – in person or virtual – is less important than the need to access care quickly .
In an age where patients are surrounded by devices, we will not only have more knowledge about potential use cases for RPM and auto care, but also a wealth of data surrounding the method. Which method works best in particular cases? These findings will further advance digital care from a convenient “yes is good” feature to an integral aspect of the continuum of care.
In addition, I predict digital care will continue to move from transaction to transformation. Virtual primary care is gaining popularity, however, opportunities for virtual primary care are greatly expanded when it is tightly integrated with escalation pathways to create a virtual primary care experience. more holistic care experience.
Discussions around the trajectory of digital care will increasingly examine how to more closely integrate virtual care and digital health across the entire patient journey. It will be a time of recovery around the power of what is still a relatively new ingredient of care.
Some of our best insights on digital health will take place in this space, where the immediate pressures of COVID-19 have passed and clinicians are more comfortable to imagine: “What’s next?”
Q. What predictions do you have for the 2023 public policy of telemedicine?
ONE. One of the biggest challenges facing the digital care industry continues to revolve around state licensing. It is clear that we need to enable the nationwide distribution of healthcare through technology – the internet does not stop at the lines of state.
What’s not clear, however, is who on Capitol Hill will be the one to say, “We’ve got to find another way.” Change must happen in partnership with medical boards that will continue to play an important role in facilitating safe medical practice. Inevitably this will be the biggest fight we’ll see taking place over the next few years, and it will have a major impact on the future of care delivery.
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