We’ve spent a lot of time in these pages showcasing the many ways that physicians, mental health professionals and medical practices are employing telehealth around the commonwealth. We’ve documented the tectonic shift that took place at the outset of the pandemic, how the embrace of telemedicine provided a safe and effective lifeline between health practitioners and their patients and how many of these practices continue to make telemedicine an important care option, even as the health emergency has abated. And we’ve seen how policymakers and payers have worked to accommodate the sea change in healthcare that has taken place over the past two years. Excuse us if the last couple years seem like a blur.
While we expect to continue to bring those stories to you in a post-pandemic Virginia, we thought we’d pause long enough catch our breath and ask: where do we go from here?
To answer questions related to the future of telehealth, we were intrigued by a somewhat recent interview in Healthcare IT News with Miles Romney, the cofounder and chief technology officer at eVisit, an Arizona-based telehealth company that helps hospitals serve their patients more conveniently and effectively through a virtual care platform. Here are some highlights from that interview:
“Innovation enthusiasm” is driving change.
The adoption of telehealth technology during the pandemic served to put the “wedge in the door,” an inflection point where patients have recognized the convenience of telemedicine, and they are poised for more of it, leading to the adoption of even more technologies in healthcare. At the same time, there has been a transition of “patients” to “consumers” – i.e. the “consumerization of healthcare” wherein patients recognize that they have choices. They are demanding successful outcomes but also high-quality experiences, a consumer mindset that will enhance competition among providers.
Telehealth will cease to exist.
Wait, what? Actually, the term will simply fade away within the next generation. “Telehealth” will simply become “health,” and the technology that is used to treat patients remotely will be part and parcel to how tomorrow’s patients will receive care.
Healthcare will become more commoditized, democratized
Technology will enable a far higher percentage of the world population to have direct access to healthcare services. We’re already seeing that in Virginia, especially in the arena of mental health where rural Virginians are able to access care from practices outside of their regions. The availability of care will continue to grow even more once issues related to broadband access are resolved. And physicians and practitioners will adopt the rhythms of their practices as they will be able to see more patients because they will be able to focus more specifically on the specific things that require their level of skill and knowledge.
There are sci-fi-esque predictions for some of the technological innovations that will be available in the next quarter century – micro-implants with neuro interfaces, transdermal infusers and the like – but mostly, the future of telehealth puts a premium on efficiency and convenience. In other words, that glimpse into the future is already here.