Dan Watterson
Telemedicine is taking off: Takeaways from ATA 2017
August 18, 2017
By Dan Watterson
Telemedicine is not new, but it will be the norm before we know it.
This was never more evident than at the ATA2017, American Telemedicine Association’s Telehealth 2.0 conference. Approximately 5,000 industry experts came together to discuss the latest trends and technology in telemedicine and virtual health. Here are a few observations from the conference concerning the rapid pace of telemedicine’s growth.
Consolidation is coming
New partnerships between the large electronic medical records (EMR) companies and telemedicine tech vendors are increasing in number. This trend indicates that the EMR companies recognize the inevitable fast growth of remote care. It further suggests that there will be many acquisitions of these telemedicine software and technology companies in the near future.
Why? Consumers desire virtual health. A 2017 telemedicine survey shows that patients prefer physicians who offer video visits. In fact, their willingness to switch primary care physicians for this service grew from 17 million to 50 million in the two years between 2015 and 2017.
While consumers desire telemedicine tools, implementing the systems and technology for the myriad of standalone devices, smartphone apps, wearables, virtual sitters and remote monitoring can be overwhelming to medical practitioners and administrators. The predicted mergers, acquisitions and partnerships will ease the way for providers and patients alike to collaborate holistically across an organization’s care continuum. In the long run, consolidation will save money and will improve patient care.
Convenience and good care become symbiotic
Telehealth options offer significant benefits to physicians who can outsource on-call requirements and patients who can save time and effort by avoiding the hospital or doctor’s office, especially if they live in remote areas.
Virtual health will eliminate the need for some routine in-person office visits. Telemedicine already has a strong foothold in cardiology, radiology and psychiatry. Yet, a new wave of virtual options goes way beyond heart monitoring, X-ray results and therapy sessions. For example, smartphones that integrate with or double as stethoscopes, glucose meters, fertility monitors and exercise trackers put power into the hands of patients to track their own personal medical data. A few burgeoning examples include remote fetal monitoring in preterm labor cases for women in rural communities as well as access to telemammography for regular breast cancer screenings and to support related cancer clinical trials.
Many patients will count virtual health as a quality-of-life win, especially if they can connect face to face with a medical provider through text, talk or FaceTime-like conversation. Prescription adjustments and refills can be handled anytime, anywhere. Even OBGYN practitioners, whose patients require high-touch interaction, can provide a video visit that keeps a new mom home where she wants to be. Even the discussion of sensitive issues like disease-screening results, biopsies, lactation and depression can be covered in a secure, face-to-face conversation via videoconference. Patients will save time and money by avoiding traffic, parking, babysitters and time off work.
The net win for physicians is that they will gain a patient-friendly avenue for frequent monitoring of patient progress, thus strengthening the physician-patient relationship. They also will keep a competitive advantage for new patients as they are demanding this capability when choosing their health care providers.
Get it right the first time
Virtual health will transform the way health systems and health care professionals operate. Virtual health is not about the technology. Good health care will always have its basis in communication, between the patient and the health care provider, and within the health care team. While the technology is the conduit for the practice of telemedicine, even the best of technologies will not alleviate poor clinical communication and process. Health care providers must stress the need for fully vetted clinical practice protocols, guidelines and workflows in order to implement optimal telemedicine programs.
Seamless telemedicine integration can only occur when there exists an overarching understanding of clinical operations and regulations that goes far beyond simply knowing how the technology works. Many industry technology vendors lack clinicians on their teams to help with the initial build. If they do have clinicians onboard, they are often in senior executive roles such as a CMO and are rarely part of the implementation. Thus, these vendors often lack system operations and regulatory knowledge to ensure a successful implementation and effective telemedicine program.
Take patient documentation, for example. Practitioners must keep thorough records of telemedicine visits, as they would if the patient were in the office. If interoperability between EMRs and telemedicine software or defined data communications workflows are not set up correctly from the beginning, key requirements such as reimbursement, audit and legal standpoints could be missed. Patient care can also be compromised if communication between the remote clinician and the on-site team is not fully scrutinized.
About the author:
Dan Watterson has 25 years of health care and health care IT implementation experience, with the most recent 15 years focused in telemedicine. With a background in critical care nursing and certification in project management, he brings clinical, technical and project management expertise to the North Highland Telemedicine practice.
Telemedicine is not new, but it will be the norm before we know it.
This was never more evident than at the ATA2017, American Telemedicine Association’s Telehealth 2.0 conference. Approximately 5,000 industry experts came together to discuss the latest trends and technology in telemedicine and virtual health. Here are a few observations from the conference concerning the rapid pace of telemedicine’s growth.
Consolidation is coming
New partnerships between the large electronic medical records (EMR) companies and telemedicine tech vendors are increasing in number. This trend indicates that the EMR companies recognize the inevitable fast growth of remote care. It further suggests that there will be many acquisitions of these telemedicine software and technology companies in the near future.
Why? Consumers desire virtual health. A 2017 telemedicine survey shows that patients prefer physicians who offer video visits. In fact, their willingness to switch primary care physicians for this service grew from 17 million to 50 million in the two years between 2015 and 2017.
While consumers desire telemedicine tools, implementing the systems and technology for the myriad of standalone devices, smartphone apps, wearables, virtual sitters and remote monitoring can be overwhelming to medical practitioners and administrators. The predicted mergers, acquisitions and partnerships will ease the way for providers and patients alike to collaborate holistically across an organization’s care continuum. In the long run, consolidation will save money and will improve patient care.
Convenience and good care become symbiotic
Telehealth options offer significant benefits to physicians who can outsource on-call requirements and patients who can save time and effort by avoiding the hospital or doctor’s office, especially if they live in remote areas.
Virtual health will eliminate the need for some routine in-person office visits. Telemedicine already has a strong foothold in cardiology, radiology and psychiatry. Yet, a new wave of virtual options goes way beyond heart monitoring, X-ray results and therapy sessions. For example, smartphones that integrate with or double as stethoscopes, glucose meters, fertility monitors and exercise trackers put power into the hands of patients to track their own personal medical data. A few burgeoning examples include remote fetal monitoring in preterm labor cases for women in rural communities as well as access to telemammography for regular breast cancer screenings and to support related cancer clinical trials.
Many patients will count virtual health as a quality-of-life win, especially if they can connect face to face with a medical provider through text, talk or FaceTime-like conversation. Prescription adjustments and refills can be handled anytime, anywhere. Even OBGYN practitioners, whose patients require high-touch interaction, can provide a video visit that keeps a new mom home where she wants to be. Even the discussion of sensitive issues like disease-screening results, biopsies, lactation and depression can be covered in a secure, face-to-face conversation via videoconference. Patients will save time and money by avoiding traffic, parking, babysitters and time off work.
The net win for physicians is that they will gain a patient-friendly avenue for frequent monitoring of patient progress, thus strengthening the physician-patient relationship. They also will keep a competitive advantage for new patients as they are demanding this capability when choosing their health care providers.
Get it right the first time
Virtual health will transform the way health systems and health care professionals operate. Virtual health is not about the technology. Good health care will always have its basis in communication, between the patient and the health care provider, and within the health care team. While the technology is the conduit for the practice of telemedicine, even the best of technologies will not alleviate poor clinical communication and process. Health care providers must stress the need for fully vetted clinical practice protocols, guidelines and workflows in order to implement optimal telemedicine programs.
Seamless telemedicine integration can only occur when there exists an overarching understanding of clinical operations and regulations that goes far beyond simply knowing how the technology works. Many industry technology vendors lack clinicians on their teams to help with the initial build. If they do have clinicians onboard, they are often in senior executive roles such as a CMO and are rarely part of the implementation. Thus, these vendors often lack system operations and regulatory knowledge to ensure a successful implementation and effective telemedicine program.
Take patient documentation, for example. Practitioners must keep thorough records of telemedicine visits, as they would if the patient were in the office. If interoperability between EMRs and telemedicine software or defined data communications workflows are not set up correctly from the beginning, key requirements such as reimbursement, audit and legal standpoints could be missed. Patient care can also be compromised if communication between the remote clinician and the on-site team is not fully scrutinized.
About the author:
Dan Watterson has 25 years of health care and health care IT implementation experience, with the most recent 15 years focused in telemedicine. With a background in critical care nursing and certification in project management, he brings clinical, technical and project management expertise to the North Highland Telemedicine practice.