The Future of Telehealth: A Passing Phase or Here to Stay?

By: Bill Bower

Oct 03, 2024 — Telehealth has emerged as a crucial tool for healthcare organizations. By leveraging technology to connect patients and healthcare providers remotely, telehealth can improve healthcare access, reduce costs, and enhance patient outcomes, making it an essential component of modern healthcare delivery.

From 2013-2018, the industry experienced exponential growth in telehealth usage, both in urban and rural areas. Much of this rise spawned from the desire for convenient access to non-critical healthcare without needing to establish a relationship with a primary care provider, as well as accounting for the cost of seeking treatment or care. In more recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic only elevated the need for telehealth options. We learned that we could effectively work from home. We learned that we could set up at-home gym routines. Also, we learned that we could visit with our care providers using a phone, tablet, or other device.

But here's an observation: Employers began reopening offices and asking their staff to return, even if on a limited schedule. Gyms gradually reopened, reducing restrictions, and are starting to see an uptick in memberships with attendance returning to "normal" levels. What about healthcare? Are folks returning to the office for care, or do they continue to seek care delivery through virtual means?

Of course, we cannot predict how external factors — like a global pandemic — will change the course of telehealth, but within the industry itself, we can start with these questions:

1. Will telehealth and telemedicine usage increase in the future?
2. What barriers, if any, will limit this growth?
3. What must we do to eliminate these barriers?

Clearly, neither the patients nor the providers are barriers, and 65% of people polled have said they would engage in telehealth visits with their providers if made available or necessary. Providers are also in support because of the increased efficiency and safety, with the leading areas of specialty care using telehealth being radiology, psychiatry/psychotherapy, and cardiology. We're also seeing an uptick in primary care, dermatology, and behavioral health. So, it's safe to say that the rise of telehealth would likely continue if it were solely dependent on patients and their doctors.

However, the industry still faces a number of barriers:

• Legal and regulatory: The difference between state laws regarding practice (e.g., whether face-to-face care is required) and licensure (who is allowed to provide care, e.g., PAs vs. MDs)
• Reimbursement: The variations in government-provided aid
• Technology: The reliability of the system or tools being used, the visual capabilities (post-operative wound checks, moles, etc.), and the education of the patient and provider to communicate or provide care digitally
• Remote limitations of care: Auscultation or identification of concerns completely
• Data: Ensuring the secure transmission of information between patient and clinician, as well as between providers
• Informed consent: The additional issues of understanding telehealth's potential limitations of treatment, the right to seek in-person care, or the need to convert to an inpatient visit (beyond the normal risk and benefits of services provided)
• Patient screening: Accessing the appropriate patient populations

Finally, the future of telehealth depends mostly on its accessibility. Right now, patients with a significant illness may find that their providers don't feel comfortable treating them virtually. Is it possible to create technology that bridges the gap? What about reliable, office- and hospital-grade monitoring or auscultation capabilities? The industry may find itself with a willing patient population without the technology or platform to support it.

Many of the barriers will resolve over time with technological advancements, changes in government regulations, and improvements to medical treatment, for example. If it enables care providers to reach more patients and for patients to receive timely care, then healthcare organizations will continue to invest in telehealth's capabilities.

At Gallagher Bassett, we understand the importance of finding the right claims and risk management partner to help organizations maneuver the ever-evolving healthcare landscape. When it comes to telehealth, we guide our clients to develop strategies that suit their unique needs and prioritize what matters most to them.

To learn more about our multidisciplinary approach to risk management for healthcare clients, visit our healthcare industry solutions page.