During the pandemic, organizations across private and public health care systems have rethought their care delivery models.
This is one of the key trends Ronald L. Emerson, Global Healthcare Lead at Zoom, shared virtually during the keynote, “The Rise of Digital-First Healthcare” and decentralized,” at the HIMSS22 APAC conference. With him was Benjamin Lim, Zoom’s APAC Lead for ISV Platform Business, who moderated the discussion directly.
Recent Zoom commissioned research shows that patients who have used telehealth once preferred a post-COVID-19 integrated care approach.
This has given birth to digital-first, by no means “digital only” healthcare.
“That means many healthcare systems, public and private, are developing virtual models of care or integrated care models,” said Emerson.
“They think it’s up to the interaction or the clinical condition to determine the level of care needed… If they can handle it. [visits] Through telemedicine and patient care, patients don’t need more expensive care. They don’t need to go to the emergency room or the hospital or the doctor’s office. And so we’re seeing a massive shift in that sector, and it’s lowering the entry point for the healthcare system,” he noted.
Instead of an all-digital model of care, a model of care tailored to the patient’s circumstances is ideal for bridging the gap in healthcare access.
“I think our goal with telemedicine is how we use it when it makes sense. I don’t follow the digital care model, the all-video model, the full virtual care model. ; I’m all for a real-life clinical application-generated model that can lower the threshold and increase access when people need care [so] then we can make better decisions about the clinical condition of the patient,” shared Emerson.
Apply Telemedicine
Another important trend is the rise of video-enabled virtual visits during the pandemic. Care providers are now getting their money’s worth using cost-effective virtual care technologies.
When adopting a provider telemedicine platform, care providers typically consider the following: patient acceptability, clinical effectiveness, cost, and sustainability.
“We’ve really seen the return on investment and the sustainability of the project. Vendors and organizations like Zoom have really lowered the price at which these projects are sustainable,” said Emerson.
Zoom has succeeded in integrating as few workflows as possible within the organization’s existing centralized platform. “Healthcare professionals don’t want any more platforms to manage. They want to use their kind of centralized platform if they have electronic medical records,” he said.
Decentralized healthcare
Finally, Emerson noted how organizations are working to reach patients in the continuum of care and work to provide the same level of care they would receive in a hospital setting.
He asserts this decentralized healthcare trend is happening because today’s health systems focus not only on disease but also on the ability to keep people healthy through healthcare and better prevention, education and discharge planning – all of which require virtual technology and communication.
“We hope to see more and more [in] other places,” he quipped.
Virtual health as a strategic goal
For organizations looking to develop their own digitally supportive care delivery models, Emerson shares that the way to success is to make virtual wellness a strategic goal in delivering care. provide their care.
“That means the doctors are on board, it’s written in their job description. [It’s going to be a] part of the system that provides how we take care of people,” he said.
