Category: Telehealth

The Telehealth Boom Continues

Posted on by Jason Barry

New McKinsey analysis suggests that telehealth will maintain most of its pandemic-driven usage gains, which stabilized at 38X its pre-COVID baseline and 17% of all outpatient/office visit claims.

McKinsey’s findings highlight three primary driving factors:

Adoption

  • 40% of surveyed consumers believe they will continue to use telehealth, up from 11% before COVID-19
  • 84% of physicians are now offering virtual visits, while 57% wish to continue

Regulation

  • CMS made telehealth coverage for a number of CPT codes permanent in the 2021 physician fee schedule

Investment

  • Total digital health VC funding in 1H 2021 reached $14.7B, eclipsing 2020’s total ($14.6B)
  • Investment surge pressuring companies to innovate and find viable models
  • Top 60 digital health players had combined revenue of $5.5B in 2020, vs. $3B in 2019

The Takeaway

It may have been reasonable to expect telehealth usage to decline given the unique circumstances behind its massive growth. However, the combination of patient, clinician, and business momentum suggests that most of telehealth’s share gains could persist.

Virtual Consults

Posted on by Jason Barry

New research out of MGH shows that point-of-care virtual radiology consultations are well received by patients and primary care providers, suggesting that they could “advance radiology’s value in care delivery.”

  • The Study – The researchers performed video-based radiology consultations with 3 primary care providers and 43 patients at a primary care clinic, surveying the patients and the PCPs.
  • The Patient Results – The patient results were positive – 93% were satisfied with the virtual consultations, 88% stated that it improved their understanding of their condition, and 91% were interested in similar consultations in the future. Perhaps most notably, the patients’ interest in receiving their imaging results from radiologists increased from 56% before the virtual consultations to 88% after. 
  • The PCP Results – The PCPs were satisfied with 97% of the virtual consultations and found that 83% of the consultations helped their management decisions.
  • The Takeaway – The 2020-2021 virtual care boom has largely skipped radiology, but it’s becoming clear that all specialties will have to find a way to adapt to this shift. This study reveals a straightforward way for radiology to increase its role in virtual care that seems to work for both patients and referring providers.

Teledoc and Microsoft Team Up

Posted on by Jason Barry

Teledoc Health is integrating its Solo virtual care platform with Microsoft Teams, allowing caregivers to collaborate and conduct telehealth visits without leaving the Teams environment. 

  • The Benefit – The partnership allows clinicians to seamlessly transition between business and clinical operations, reducing administrative tasks and streamlining the virtual care workflow. The first iteration of the platform is expected in early 2022.
  • The Trend – Microsoft continues to grow its healthcare footprint. When Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare launched in May of last year, it was the company’s first industry-specific cloud offering. Microsoft’s acquisition of Nuance Communications added transcription and AI to its suite of healthcare services, and the Teledoc partnership announcement revealed that more new tools are on the way.
  • The Spin – AI of course. Not only will the new partnership lead to more efficient patient care, but it will also enable improved data analytics. The collaboration aims to leverage the artificial intelligence and machine learning expertise from both companies to make continuous improvements to the joint software offering.
  • The Takeaway – Two of the biggest names in telehealth and collaboration have joined forces. Although clinicians already have the ability to securely access clinical data within their EHRs, integrating this information with other platforms has the potential to unlock better patient outcomes. The partnership between Teledoc’s virtual care technology and Microsoft’s collaboration software means that these outcomes could be closer than expected.
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