The Next Era for Telehealth

Telehealth is transforming how caregivers deliver care and how patients engage with providers. Though it was once positioned as an option of convenience, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed this modality to the forefront of the healthcare dialogue as a critical channel for care delivery. However, healthcare executives need to perfect the patient experience in this area, bolstering technology and clinician training to match the standards of in-person care. 

In a discussion with Modern Healthcare Custom Media, two industry leaders offered their perspectives on how healthcare leaders can position their telehealth programs as a revenue driver and tool for improving population health.  

Panelists: 

Steve Giannini is CEO of Bright.md. He brings over 20 years of experience in business growth, operations and development across industries including software, technology and healthcare.

Jack Williams is president of VirtualMed Staff. He provides senior leadership for the company, including strategic and operational efforts that support the company's market-leading telemedicine services.
 

SG: While we’ll be leveraging learnings from COVID-19 for years to come, health executives are already evolving their digital strategies to unlock efficiencies and power hybrid care delivery. For long-term success, that means adopting virtual care solutions that navigate patients to the right venue of care, prioritize equity and automate clinical workflows to improve every care encounter for both patients and providers.

JW: Telehealth won’t go backwards; it will only continue to go forwards and be integrated as a staple offering in the care continuum. After all, patients expect it now, in the same way they expect cell phones to come with a camera. Patients will expect to see a physician when they need one, and telehealth is an opportunity to see patients faster than ever before.
 

SG: We hear from providers that unnecessary paperwork and time spent in an EHR are two main factors contributing to burnout. Telehealth can certainly be a solution, but only if the tools are designed to alleviate these administrative burdens. The key is implementing solutions that automate clinical workflows like charting, intake and billing, and that integrate directly into the EHR so providers can practice at the top of their license.

JW: Identify the root cause and the specific areas where burnout is occurring. Are staff overwhelmed due to patient overcrowding? Lack of overnight coverage? Identifying the root cause will enable you to leverage telehealth in specific ways that will make staff happier, more effective and provide a better patient experience. Consult with the stakeholders in those roles first to get a better understanding of the challenges they are facing.

SG: To address these growing shortages, it’s critical to find telehealth solutions that help deliver care at scale—especially for low-acuity conditions that make up 60 percent of primary and urgent care visits. This is where asynchronous technology can make the biggest impact. Patients can access clinical care on-demand and get a treatment plan from a doctor in less than 6 minutes, while providers can deliver care from anywhere in 2 minutes on average.

JW: The last thing any healthcare organization wants is to tell patients there’s no coverage available. To address these gaps, start by analyzing the historical patient volume data and factoring in as many variables as possible, like diagnosis codes and number of onsite staff to get an idea of when and where you need coverage the most. With an accurate picture of patient volumes, you can leverage telehealth to fill specific gaps and shortages.
 

SG: Every executive I’ve spoken to in the last six months is focused on equity and access, which is so promising for reducing disparities and improving healthcare long-term. Organizations should focus on outreach campaigns to educate more patients on health literacy and telehealth options. Moving forward, solutions that can operate on a 3G connection without broadband must be part of systems’ virtual offerings to meet more patients where they are.

JW: One challenge is identifying what technology is available to the patients and healthcare systems in a general area. Almost everyone has a smart phone now, but not everyone has a HIPAA compliant video application. Utilizing apps like Zoom can help bridge that gap and provide affordable access via an inexpensive solution. Flexibility is key, like allowing patients to utilize telehealth for any follow up care after seeing a physician in-person.
 

SG: Solutions must be designed for both the patient and the provider experience, which is rare today. And seamless integration with your EHR is absolutely critical; solutions should flow into and out of your system to streamline workflows rather than create friction or require new processes.

JW:  Keep it simple, find what works, and use a reliable technology platform. The technology platform is an important part of a positive patient experience, which is why health systems are migrating towards smaller and leaner video conferencing platforms, like Zoom, for its reliability, ease of use and flexibility. Patients and physicians have no trouble navigating the platform, it connects across multiple devices, and calls are rarely interrupted.
 

SG: This is where telehealth solutions that merely shift care online—rather than improving overall care delivery—fall short. It’s critical to navigate and triage patients to the right venue of care at the right time, optimize quality of care and lower costs. We also need to redesign clinical pre-visit workflows ahead of any type of visit—in-person, video, asynchronous—to improve patient and provider experiences.

JW: First, telehealth needs to be part of the overall strategic efforts and goals of the health system. Secondly, the virtual care team needs to be integrated with the onsite team. Trust is a major part of providing quality care. If the onsite team sees the virtual team as an extension of the overall care team, then they’ll build relationships and work together to provide the highest level of care and ensure a telehealth program is successful.
 

SG: What we hear most often from clinicians is that they need to trust the telehealth solutions they’re being asked to use. Of course, ensuring that clinicians are given the chance to test and evaluate solutions before they are implemented is critical. But solutions must be reliable and they should also adhere to clinical standards to truly empower clinicians to focus on providing quality care and improving outcomes for their patients.

JW: Organizational alignment is key to a successful telehealth program and including all the stakeholders involved in the push for virtual care is vital. Invest the time to talk to the frontline clinicians and leaders to understand what they need. If done correctly, these conversations will expose the weaknesses you want to address and make everyone better at their job. This also ensures everyone understands their role in the overall initiative.