What is telehealth and how does it work? 3 patient questions, answered
Digital transformation has impacted many fields in the past year, but healthcare is perhaps the field that was transformed the most. Patients that had become used to a certain way of receiving medical help have now discovered that technology can make appointments easier and that it’s not always necessary to be in the same room as the healthcare provider to receive proper treatment.
In the US, telehealth spending continues to grow, and CMS estimates that, by 2027, it will increase from 17.9% of GDP to 19.4% by 2027. Last year, over seven million doctor’s appointments were made via the Internet, and three-quarters of US hospitals have already integrated this service. It seems that telehealth is here to stay, but what exactly is it, and should you trust it? If you’re still having second thoughts about scheduling an online doctor’s appointment, here are the most common telehealth questions, answered.
What exactly is telehealth?
Broadly speaking, telehealth is the delivery of health services via digital technologies. In other words, you won’t be in the same room as the healthcare provider, you will receive healthcare services online. Some use the words telehealth and telemedicine interchangeably, but telehealth is the broader term and includes things other than the actual appointment, such as patient self-monitoring, patient education, and medical records management.
Telehealth healthcare uses various technologies: computers, smartphones, live chat tools, digital cameras, remote monitoring tools, apps, and so on. For example, if you are taking photos of your daily meals to send to your doctor via an app, that counts as telehealth. If you are using a device to monitor your blood sugar levels and send them to your doctor, it’s also telehealth – and there are many other examples. To put it simply, telehealth is just about any service you would receive from your doctor, but remotely.
What are the benefits of telehealth?
One of the main goals of telehealth is to make healthcare services available to more people, including patients from remote areas and disadvantaged communities who wouldn’t have access to them otherwise. At the same time, telehealth aims to make doctor’s appointments more convenient. By scheduling online appointments, you no longer have to worry about wasting hours in traffic or finding a babysitter to go to the doctor. And why drive for an hour to have your prescription refilled when you can simply have a video chat from the comfort of your home?
Technology has finally come to a point where doctors can access health data before the actual appointment, which increases the accuracy of diagnostics and helps healthcare providers have a clearer overview of your condition. Some providers have integrated emergency services to their telehealth platforms so, for example, if the health of a nursing home patient suddenly worsens, a team will arrive on-site immediately.
Telehealth services are also beneficial for healthcare providers because they allow them to better manage their time and see more patients in a day without feeling overwhelmed. With telehealth, the rate of no-shows and cancellations is dramatically reduced, and it can even give doctors a competitive edge because the demand for telehealth services is increasing. One study even found that the implementation of telehealth services can boost patient retention by 81%!
Does it really work?
All these benefits sound great on paper, but does the telehealth system also work well in practice? Fortunately, yes, it does, and studies conducted on the topic have found that telehealth services can be just as effective as conventional ones.
The benefits of telehealth are praised by two particular categories of patients: seniors and Millennials. Although elderly patients are thought to be skeptical of technology, studies show that they, in fact, are quite open to the idea. Since many of them have a medical condition that reduces their mobility, remote appointments are a much-needed alternative.
As for Millennials, the preferences for telehealth service probably comes as no surprise. According to a recent study, 40% of Millennials said that having the option of telehealth is very important to them, and they prefer it over the traditional primary care model. Since only 67% of Millennials have access to primary care (compared to 85% of Baby Boomers), telehealth was well received because it democratizes access to healthcare and makes it more affordable. On average, a remote consultation is up to 15% cheaper than a conventional one, and that’s without counting related costs (gas, taking time off work, etc.).
Some skeptics worry that the diagnostic won’t be accurate and the quality of healthcare services won’t be as high as in-person visits, but research has consistently shown that virtual consultations are very effective. About 90% of the diagnosis is determined by the patient’s medical history, so an in-person visit isn’t necessarily recommended. In addition, according to a paper published in the American Journal of Managed Care, 62% of patients and 59% of healthcare providers rated remote appointments as effective as in-office visits. A whopping 97% of patients are bothered by the long waiting times in clinics anyway, which makes remote visits even more popular.
As for the doctor-patient connection, research shows that telehealth can make people more open to sharing information with their doctor and trust them. Not only can people share remotely the same information they share in-person, but the fact that they are talking to the healthcare provider from home can make them more comfortable and even bring back the intimacy. Many people are inherently afraid of seeing a doctor or, when they do, they leave out important information that would help diagnose them better and understand their needs. However, research has shown that people are less afraid of talking to a doctor remotely and, since it all happens from the comfort of their home, they feel much more at ease to discuss their symptoms and concerns.