The health care industry is primed for expanded adoption of virtual health. Several key factors are elevating stakeholder interest, including expected physician shortages, increased customer demand, continued advancements in enabling technologies, and evolving federal and state policies1.
Health plans and employers, both of which have strong incentives to supplement personal care with virtual options, are at the forefront of industry adoption. Hospitals and health systems, however, may face physicians' hesitations, such as concerns about the potential loss of human touch in health care delivery and the impact on workload.
The resistance may be overcome if physicians and other clinicians embrace virtual health as an integrated delivery approach for treating their patient, complementary to rather than a replacement for in-person care; a delivery option that enhance provider-patient interactions and extends–not replaces–the human touch.
Virtual health technologies have the capacity to inform, personalize, accelerate, and augment humans' ability to care for one another. For providers, committing to virtual health at a personal and organizational level can afford an opportunity to deliver more connected, coordinated care.