8- TELEMEDECINE & TELEHEALTH by PHARMAGEEK

The healthcare industry is one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the United States, with an expected growth rate of 14% over the next eight years, adding around 1.9 million new jobs.

Demand for healthcare services is expected to rise in the years ahead as baby boomers age and the number of Americans living with at least one chronic condition grows. Without access to additional providers, patient outcomes could suffer as existing healthcare workers try to keep up with demand.

Healthcare facilities can use the latest virtual care technology to address and prevent these staffing issues.

Telehealth can reduce the amount of time nurses and other care providers need to spend with their patients, so they have more time to complete their rounds. Companies and facilities looking to fill empty positions should learn more about the benefits of telehealth and how it can reduce staffing shortages.

Reducing the Need for Healthcare Services

Telehealth can help facilities reduce the number of patients that require in-person healthcare services. Patients recovering from surgery and those with severe chronic conditions will need to be monitored by a healthcare professional at all hours of the day.

Providers can use digital health apps, instant messaging, and live video and audio to remotely check up on their patients. With 24/7 access to their patients, providers can use this technology to improve health outcomes and prevent possible emergencies down the line.

Instead of having providers physically walk from room to room, they can use remote patient monitoring tools to keep an eye on these patients while they recover in the comfort of their own homes. Providers can quickly monitor the patient’s vitals, send them important reminders, and help them reach their long-term health goals without wasting precious time throughout the day.

This reduces the need for in-person healthcare services by lowering readmission rates and preventing unexpected trips to the emergency room that can easily overwhelm staff members and raise healthcare costs.

Simplifying Clinical Workflows

Care providers can also use telehealth to simplify their daily routines so they can spend more time caring for patients and less time completing redundant steps and manual processes. Providers can easily collect data on their patients using remote patient monitoring, the Internet of Things, and other wireless medical devices. Electronic health records (EHRs) systems and data analytics programs will organize patient data, helping providers quickly make sense of this information.

This reduces the amount of time providers need to spend entering information into the system, generating reports, and making treatment recommendations.

For example, nurses typically spend about 10% of their time educating patients about their diagnoses and treatment recommendations. With digital health tools, nurses can quickly educate their patients efficiently and effectively.

Attracting the Next Generation of Nurses

As demand for healthcare workers continues to grow around the country, many healthcare facilities may find themselves competing for talent in the years to come, particularly in rural areas or those with existing staffing shortages.

Facilities can use the latest telehealth technology to improve staffing workflows and ease the burden on existing staff members, thus reducing staff burnout rates and other on-the-job hazards.

Healthcare providers tend to suffer from high rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Facilities can use digital tools to keep existing staff members satisfied and fulfilled on the job, thus reducing employee turnover rates and recruiting costs.

The next generation of providers will be more likely to accept a job at a healthcare facility if they know they will have access to technology that’s designed to keep them safe and help them do more with less.

Providers may be wary of accepting a new job if it means reverting to manual processes, trying to manage too many patients at once, or working around the clock.

Using telehealth technology still requires good bedside manners - just call it your screen side or website manners. So what do providers need to know that is different between an in-person encounter compared to a telehealth encounter? 

The space involved with making that first impression via telehealth is significantly smaller than meeting in-person in a clinical setting.  Besides being two-dimensional, your space is limited to the size and quality of the monitor projecting your image on the other end of the connection. 

You only get one chance to make a first impression – so make it good.

Important factors to consider to help develop and maintain a positive patient-provider relationship:

Prior to encounter – being prepared is always the best practice.

• Equipment – understand how to use and test; know who to contact to troubleshoot; ensure good placement of the camera, microphone, and speakers
• Physical space – clear of distractions; good lighting; private and secure (HIPAA)
• Provider Appearance – professional; solid, non-distracting (preferably light blue) colors
• Preparation – review patient history chart/file

During the encounter – a little extra explanation can go a long way to foster relationships.

• Confirm connection quality (hear/see) and security of space (HIPAA)
• Introduce self (and others), organization/location
• Have patient introduce self and any others in the room
• Explain the process of taking notes, and only briefly looking away from the camera as necessary, otherwise maintain eye contact
• Periodically ask the patient if he/she has any questions or anything to say
• Reiterate any instructions or follow-up procedures for a patient prior to disconnecting

Developing your screen-side manners in today’s telehealth world is just as essential as developing good bedside manners. 

Patients still need to feel they are being heard and understood by their provider whether in-person or via video connection. The tasks that happen during an in-person visit, (e.g., jotting down notes, or looking at an image), are seen directly by the patient.

These same actions may not be as visible via video, and require some explanation to keep the patient engaged. The patient still needs your full attention.

Empathy is no less important in telemedicine. Being prepared, clearly communicating, and focusing on your patient will help foster a positive patient-provider relationship.

 You can still make meaningful eye contact via telehealth, but the trick is looking directly at the actual camera, and not the projected image of the patient on your screen.

Body language can speak louder than words, but telehealth creates a situation where not all body language is actually visible. 

While a thoughtful hand to the chin while thinking maybe commonplace, on video the same action might communicate disinterest. 

Controlling reactionary movements is vital for telehealth. While standing bedside, a simple action like shifting weight from one leg to another has minimal visual impact compared to being on video and then seeming to shift out of the view of the camera.

Similar to developing a good bedside manner, a good screen-side manner takes practice.  Telehealth is unique in that you can record yourself and review the video before ever connecting with a patient.

By examining your recording, you can get a better understanding of the patient’s perspective of the telehealth connection. This process allows you to make adjustments that might not happen otherwise, creating the best patient encounter possible.

We’ve seen enormous changes in the healthcare industry in recent years, mostly relating to the more efficient storage and usage of patient data through blockchain technology and the digitisation of patient files.

In the past two decades, the growing penetration of technology in the industry has yielded new medical devices, automated treatments, and improved diagnostic processes, giving doctors, scientists and patients renewed hope for the treatment of diseases some of which, until now, have been largely untreatable.

Blockchain has enabled the seamless global exchange of patient information in real time with reduced transaction costs and fewer administrative delays, enabling much faster, more secure and more efficient exchanges of health records between medical personnel.

But technology isn’t only transforming the way patient information is handled; it is also revolutionising the way patients receive medical care.

Telemedicine -- the use of information technology to remotely diagnose, treat, or continuously monitor patients - has been hailed the ‘next disruptor’ of the healthcare industry.

In other words, the industry has at last recognised that waiting for hours at a doctor's office to ask a simple question or get a prescription can in some cases be so burdensome and frustrating that it can prevent patients from seeking medical help.

About time, too. If every other aspect of our lives has been digitised -- from job hunting, to online dating, to doing the groceries -- why haven’t we yet digitised the process of receiving medical care?

Often, a doctor’s check-up is so simple that all that is required is a quick verbal check of symptoms and a quick glance into the patient’s eyes.

If this could be done remotely through video technology in less than five minutes, it benefits both the physician -- who can in turn help more patients on average -- and the patient, who needn’t risk becoming even more sick by leaving home and sitting in a crowded waiting room with other ill people.

By empowering caregivers to remotely interact with their patients, telemedicine has the power to completely transform health care delivery, by making it far more affordable and available.

In fact, it has already begun to do this: in 2018, over 7 million patients used some sort of a telemedicine service in the U.S., and that number is only expected to rise over the next few years. Over half of America’s hospitals already use some sort of telemedicine, and there are more than 200 telemedicine networks in the US alone. Inevitably, with anticipated growth comes unprecedented industry investment - and the telemedicine industry is no exception.

There have been huge investments in the global telemedicine market in recent years, so much so that it is anticipated to grow from its current $38.3 billion valuation to an impressive $130.5 billion by 2025.

This encompasses value derived not only from the services provided through telemedicine but the devices and platforms that support service delivery. 

As healthcare companies look for ways to reduce costs and improve patient-centered care, more and more providers -- as well as investors -- are choosing to invest in shares in telehealth.

According to recent studies, 56 percent of healthcare executives say they have already integrated telemedicine - and more specifically, software as a service (SaaS) business models - into organisation, while another 24 percent are currently looking to invest in telemedicine solutions.

The remaining 20 percent are just beginning to become familiar with the opportunities presented by telehealth and telemedicine.

One particular platform - Colorado-based CirrusMD, which gives patients access to a board-certified physician in less than a minute on the app or on the web - has seen the largest investment to date in the telemedicine world, with a further US$15 million in funding having just been granted for the expansion of its telemedicine portfolio.

The money was raised through a series B funding round led by Drive Capital, bringing its total venture capital raised to $26 million altogether.

Founded in 2012 by an emergency physician, the platform is available across 50 states and differs from other telemedicine platforms in that members don’t pay upfront to physicians. Instead, it teams up with integrated delivery networks who pay doctors by the hour to deliver services via its platform.

CirrusMD is far from alone in the telemedicine sphere, mind you. It vies for the attention of patients alongside competitors Heal, Pager, Kry, HealthTap, Snap MD, Mfine, Pager, K Health, and Doctor on Demand, the latter of which just pulled in $50 million to continue expansion of its virtual doctor platform.

Maven - the first telemedicine platform made specifically for women - just launched with $2.2 million in seed funding, and Spruce just raised a further $15 million for its new platform which caters to people with dermatology conditions.

With 25 percent of consumers admitting they would willingly switch their primary care provider for one that offers more telehealth services, and with 75 percent of people saying they would be happy to attend a doctor’s appointment remotely, it's extremely likely that the telehealth and telemedicine industry will grow at an exponential rate in the next few years, paving the way for huge opportunities for those willing to invest in the digital infrastructure that supports it.