How Telehealth is Changing the Healthcare Landscape

There has been a steep rise in telehealth services for the past few years, thanks to the convenience of patients receiving medical care from the comfort of their homes and reducing the need to travel to a physical healthcare facility. With greater access to telehealth, there’s also been increased access to healthcare services for people in remote and underserved areas. Rural Americans, who make up 15-20% of the United States population, face inequities that result in poor healthcare compared to urban or suburban residents in the United States.

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US rural communities like the Appalachia or the Deep South, to Alaska and Hawaii, share common risks for poor health or healthcare. These challenges include few local doctors, poverty, and remote locations that contribute to a lack of access to healthcare.

Telehealth is a solution to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas, offering many answers to the challenges of rural healthcare. Telehealth can benefit rural communities with increased access to specialists to manage and treat chronic conditions, access to health and wellness programs for smoking cessation, weight loss, and nutrition, and increased access to mental health care.

What are physicians saying about telehealth?

While telehealth continues to be a convenient and accessible option for most seeking healthcare, not everyone is on board. Quality of care is a top concern for physicians. According to a two-part survey by Decision Resources Group, 60% of physicians have lingering reservations about the quality of care provided through a telehealth platform. The results also showed out of the 4,855 physicians that completed the survey, nearly 20% did not use telehealth as a concern for diminished quality of care.

While some might be concerned, a study conducted by American Medical Association reports that the vast majority of doctors, 85%, use telehealth to deliver patient care, and most said their organization would continue to use telehealth in their practice.

How does telehealth impact the HR landscape?

Telehealth is a popular tool that many HR Benefit specialists can offer through employee benefits and supporting absence management. While most employees appreciate the additional benefit or opportunities for healthcare, telehealth also impacts the HR landscape, specifically for recruiting, compliance, and credentialing teams.

Recruiting: Telehealth is making it easier for healthcare providers to recruit professionals from remote locations, which can help address staffing shortages in certain areas. Recruiting may require changes to the traditional recruitment process, such as incorporating virtual job fairs or online assessments. Telehealth has also enabled a faster hiring process, as virtual interviews and assessments can be conducted more efficiently than in-person ones.

Compliance: Telehealth introduces new regulations and compliance issues, such as HIPAA compliance for virtual consultations and ensuring that telehealth providers are licensed in the states where patients are located. Compliance teams are running into challenges around the following:

Regulation: Telehealth regulations and guidelines vary by state and can be complex and constantly changing, making it difficult for organizations to keep up with the latest rules and ensure compliance.
Data privacy: Telehealth involves transmitting sensitive medical information, which must be protected under data privacy laws and regulations.
Technology platforms: Ensuring that telehealth technology providers are appropriately licensed and credentialed can be difficult, as licensing requirements vary state by state.

Credentialing: Telehealth providers must be credentialed by payers and healthcare systems to ensure they meet the same standards as in-person providers. This may involve additional steps, such as providing proof of malpractice insurance, passing background checks, and completing additional training as the organization recommends.

What are new or modified regulations around telehealth in 2023?

Medicare patients can receive telehealth services authorized in the 2023 calendar year in their homes.
No longer geographic restrictions for originating sites for non-behavior/mental telehealth services.
Telehealth can be provided as an excepted benefit.
Medicare-covered providers may use any non-public-facing application to communicate with patients without the risk of federal penalties, even if the application does not comply with HIPAA.

What’s next for telehealth trends?

Telehealth is changing how healthcare is delivered, and staying informed about telehealth trends can help ensure patients have access to the best and most appropriate care.

Expansion of services: telehealth services are expected to include a broader range of medical and behavioral health services and ancillary services such as remote patient monitoring and virtual rehabilitation.
Increased adoption: telehealth is expected to continue to gain popularity as patients and providers become more familiar with and comfortable using virtual healthcare services.
Integration with traditional care: it’s expected to become more integrated with conventional in-person healthcare, with virtual services complementing in-person care to provide a more comprehensive and convenient patient experience.
Advances in technology: Continued technological advances, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), are expected to enhance telehealth services' capabilities and effectiveness further.
Regulation: the regulatory landscape for telehealth is expected to evolve, with state and federal agencies seeking to establish more explicit guidelines for telehealth services.
Cost savings: telehealth is expected to result in cost savings for patients, providers, and healthcare payers as virtual healthcare services are more convenient and less costly than traditional in-person care.