The Booming Business of Telemedicine

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In 2019, more than 75% of U.S. based hospitals used video to connect with their patients.

  • Telehealth is a $20+ billion dollar industry
  • Expected to reach by $186.5 billion in 2026
  • 90% of physicians have experience with remote treatment
  • 77% of physicians want a shift towards telehealth

Telehealth And Telemedicine Are The Future Of Healthcare

Telemedicine: remote clinical services
Telehealth: remote non-clinical services

  • Telemedicine is used to:
    • Diagnose conditions
    • Screen symptoms
    • Provide mental health services
    • Offer low-risk urgent care
    • Support nursing home staff 
    • Deliver specialist consultations
  • Telehealth is much broader: 
    • Fulfill medication (telepharmacy)
    • Chronic condition support
    • Physical & occupational services
    • Facilitate provider training, administrative meetings, and con-ed
  • 18% of US GDP is healthcare related
  • Telehealth increases patient satisfaction & retention by 81.5%
  • Virtual healthcare has a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%

Telehealth is booming thanks to its many formats.

Types Of Telehealth Platforms

  • Video calls
  • Mobile health
  • Remote patient monitoring (RPM)
  • Texting services
  • Emails
  • Store-and-forward
  • Phone calls
  • Software (Nurx, BetterHelp, etc)

Telehealth is less than 100 years old, but is maturing at an unbelievable speed.

A Brief Timeline

  • 1920s: Radio used to give medical advice to ship clinicians
  • 1950s: Closed circuit television systems between hospitals
  • 1960s: Primary & emergency services transmitted via microwave
  • 1970s: Telehealth provided to rural communities in Alaska
  • 1980s: Telehealth offered to countries outside the U.S. 
  • 1990s: Videoconferencing for health skyrockets
  • 2000s: Telemedicine used for chronic disease management 
  • 2010s: American Telemedicine Association (ATA) grown to 3,100 members
  • 2020s: Veterinarians began offering telehealth services

Telehealth has continued to thrive even through opposing barriers.

The Current State Of Telehealthcare 

  • 1,629,000 telehealth visits in the first quarter of 2020
  • 69% of telehealth patients are between 18-49 years old
  • 69% of patients managed their concerns with telehealth guidance during the pandemic

Barriers To Telehealth Are Being Removed

  • 41% of patients have limited access to internet
    • Currently being solved with Federal broadband initiatives
  • Public skepticism
    • The majority of studies show patients prefer telehealth over in-person visits
  • Concerns over misdiagnoses
    • Studies show no significant difference between in-person and telehealth diagnoses
  • Patient privacy
    • 66% of adults were concerned about the use of their private medical info
    • The same 66% believe privacy should not keep them from using telehealth
    • Consumers growing more comfortable with private records in the cloud
  • Licensing

Recent legislation is allowing telehealth practitioners to reach across state lines

By Innovating Solutions

  • Holistic Healthcare 
    • Includes the fields of
      • Cardiology
      • Pulmonolog
      • Endocrinology 
  • Remote clinical tools
    • Blood pressure monitor
    • Anticoagulation testing
    • ECG devices
    • 28% of consumer use tech to moderate their health

With New Technology

  • Apps and smartphone gadgets
    • MedWand (diagnostic tool)
    • AliveCor (converts phones to electrocardiograms)
    • Mental health (Headspace)
  • Mail in labs
    • Allergies
    • Food sensitivity
    • Genetic testing
    • COVID (At-home testing available in 50 states
  • Wearables
    • Sensor embedded clothing
    • Smart Watches
    • Oncology mHealth wearables

And Helping Those In Need

  • Programs serve high risk or rural locations
  • Telehealth initiatives increase healthcare cost parity
  • Patients save up to 3 hours of time (100 driven miles)
  • Help control and diagnose low-incidence diseases

“In an age where the average consumer manages nearly all aspects of life online, it’s a no-brainer that healthcare should be just as convenient, accessible, and safe as online banking.” Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association

Telehealth Will Continue To Boom

  • COVID-19 spurred many to try telehealth for the first time
    • 61% of Americans have now had at least one telehealth appointment — a 3X increase since March 2020
  • Now that they’ve tried it, most Americans want telehealth to continue
    • 80% believe telehealth offers the same quality of care as in-person visits — up from 56% before the pandemic
  • The Benefits Of Telehealth

[Call Out: 82% of Americans say telehealth made it easier to get the care they need]

  • Convenience: No need take time off work or commute to the doctor’s office
  • Cost: 31% say their healthcare costs decreased when using telehealth
  • Comfort: Many feel less anxiety and fear when seeing a doctor remotely
  • Expanded access to acute care
    • 59% of Medicare Patients have access to a laptop
  • Lowered healthcare costs
    • Savings estimates from 17% to 75%
  • Older population requiring needs-based healthcare
    • 22% of the US population will be 65+ in 2050

Patients expect their docs to provide telehealth & digital tools 

  • 77% of patients would consider using telehealth
  • 83% of patients expect to use telehealth after 2020

The future of medicine is just a few taps away.

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5422083/

https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/feds-ok-interstate-licensing-paving-way-for-telehealth-expansion

https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/privacy-and-security-concerns-telehealth/2014-12

https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/why-so-many-patients-still-can-t-connect-doctors-telehealth

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/telehealth.html

https://www.aafp.org/news/media-center/kits/telemedicine-and-telehealth.html#:~:text=Telehealth%20is%20different%20from%20telemedicine,to%20remote%20non%2Dclinical%20services.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/05/covid-19-reveals-telehealth-barriers-solutions

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2766369

https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/telehealth

https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/why-so-many-patients-still-can-t-connect-doctors-telehealth

https://www.statista.com/statistics/457822/share-of-old-age-population-in-the-total-us-population/#:~:text=U.S.%20%2D%20seniors%20as%20a%20percentage%20of%20the%20population%201950%2D2050&text=In%202019%2C%20about%2016.5%20percent,population%20was%2065%20or%20over.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4795318/

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/life-sciences-health-care/us-dchs-consumer-engagement-healthcare.pdf

https://welkinhealth.com/remote-patient-monitoring-devices/

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6943a3.htm

https://accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookId=2217&sectionId=187794434#1158358710

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207141/

https://www.healthitoutcomes.com/doc/the-state-of-telehealth-in-0001

https://www.sykes.com/resources/reports/how-americans-feel-about-telehealth-now/