Rob Sobie wrote a nice post on the Point of Care Corner blog about the 4 Keys to a Successful Telemedicine Launch. These are the 4 keys he offers:
- Reliability
- Ease of Use
- Mobility
- Flexibility
Most of the ideas are pretty self explanatory, but check out the full post for his explanation of each item. I agree with each item, but I think there are a number of other things that are needed for successful telehealth as well.
Multiple Application Support – While we’d love to have the entire Telehealth experience on one application, it’s unlikely to ever happen. While doing a Telehealth visit, the doctor is going to need access to a number of other applications such as their EHR. This is where the dual monitor Telehealth setup is so beneficial. They can have the Telehealth visit up on one screen while they browse their EHR or other health application on the other screen.
Telehealth Reimbursement – I recently asked an insurance company executive about Telehealth and if they’re really start reimbursing for it. He said they were happy to reimburse a Telehealth visit, as long as they had a way to know that there was indeed a visit that justified payment. You can see where they’re afraid of Telehealth reimbursement fraud. His solution to that was reimbursing Telehealth systems that were their trusted partners. With this in mind, you want to make sure whatever Telehealth solution you use is trusted by the payers so that you get paid.
Device Connectivity – One of the challenges of Telehealth is the ability to get device information from a patient. There’s a new wave of Telehealth technologies that are incorporating medical devices into the Telehealth experience. Integrating Telehealth and devices really takes Telehealth to the next level and since the cost of devices is dropping dramatically we’re going to see more and more integrations. Just be careful because many Telehealth platforms won’t have the forethought to do this type of device integration.
I’m sure there are other keys to Telehealth success. I’d love to hear your additional ideas in the comments. Where are you seeing it implemented? What’s been most successful?
I believe the Telehealth market is set to grow like it’s never grown before. The technology and infastructure are in place for it to become a reality. Things like shared savings will drive adoption of Telehealth as a way to lower costs. The article linked above says that Telehealth is projected to be a $27.3 billion industry in 2016. I’m personally looking forward to the shift to Telehealth.
[…] The article also mentions that Gaglani believes that these types of exams will help immensely with data collection. It sounds like, if all goes according to plan, the data could immediately be uploaded to a practice’s EMR. This type of device connectivity is an important part to the future of Telehealth. […]