Telehealth technology is not new, but its overwhelming adoption as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic represents enormous change. What was initially considered a quick-fix, stop-gap solution during early lockdowns has since turned into a viable long-term care option. While patients appreciate the ability to access care from the safety and convenience of their homes, providers enjoy the efficiency of telehealth visits.
An analysis from McKinsey & Company reveals that telehealth volumes increased about 78-fold at the pandemic's onset. Although those volumes have stabilized, the McKinsey report notes that utilization has remained at levels 38 times higher than before COVID-19. A full 40% of those surveyed for the report said they plan to continue using telehealth–a number that's substantially higher than the 11% of people who had used it before 2020.
What this means is that telehealth solutions will never entirely revert to their pre-pandemic role. Indeed, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is permanently eliminating some of its former barriers to behavioral health virtual care, as well as evaluating whether to expand the list of other healthcare services it approves for telehealth reimbursement.
For hospitals and health systems, it's time to reevaluate telehealth platforms and virtual care strategies to uphold longstanding, sustainable benefits to revenue and patient engagement.
The role of IT support in virtual care platform longevity
Interestingly, another poll suggests that 72% of telehealth users attend virtual care appointments coordinated through their health system or health plan versus 17% who use direct-to-consumer telehealth services. The numbers speak to the trust patients have in their health systems. Still, the challenge now is to ensure that patients and providers are supported to optimize telehealth services and minimize expenses. Health systems that offer 24/7x365 clinically consultative IT support for both hospital telehealth end users and patients can help improve the onboarding experience with their patient portal and virtual visit solutions.
Healthcare IT support: crucial to telehealth utilization's long-term success
In the time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, telehealth technology has emerged as an indispensable component of health systems' care delivery models. However, health systems must invest strategically in growth-generating telehealth resources and infrastructure. With knowledgeable IT support, hospitals and health systems can create a superior telehealth experience for providers and patients–which, in turn, can cultivate competitive advantage, provider and patient satisfaction, and better patient care adherence.
Stay tuned for additional virtual care strategy insights via the Stoltenberg blog.
Get the most from your virtual care platform through dependable end-user IT support–from onboarding to ongoing troubleshooting and one-on-one telehealth patient and provider walkthroughs.