4 Ways Virtual Care is Changing the World of Healthcare

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, telehealth services use electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. For healthcare organizations and healthcare leaders, virtual care is a key initiative and driver for transforming healthcare.

There are four main ways in which virtual care is changing the world of healthcare:

  1. Convenient Connections: Technology is providing patients in any location – urban, suburban, rural, etc. – with the ability to access healthcare. With virtual care, patients can minimize travel time and expense while receiving care in the comfort of their home. The chance of missing work and/or school is lessened since patients, along with parents or caregivers, can access care whenever and wherever is most convenient. Being able to access care in a more convenient manner helps patients be more efficient with their time.
  1. Collaborative Consults: Virtual care is a value-add method of enabling consults with offsite specialists. With telehealth, providers can easily reach specialists and obtain critical consults – especially in time-sensitive emergency situations. Time typically spent waiting for a specialist to answer a page, drive to a facility, etc. is minimized since medical staff can obtain virtual consults on-demand along with the guidance needed to admit, transfer, discharge, and/or treat the patient on-hand.
  2. Caring Conversations: By facilitating video chats with patients, technology helps medical staff communicate with patients in a safe and relaxed environment – the patient’s home. With virtual visits, providers have the opportunity to see how the patient actually lives – their home environment, their medicine cabinet, their pantry, etc. – which can help a provider make the care conversation more meaningful and relevant to the patient’s lifestyle. Patients can also feel more comfortable in sharing their situation over a video screen vs. face-to-face. Providers may be able to focus on additional visual details which may be overlooked during in-person office appointments or over the phone. Patient education about one’s condition, expectations during recovery, and treatment plans can continue to be reinforced during the provider-to-patient conversations.
  3. Consumer-Centric Care: At its core, consumer-centric healthcare means that the patient is both engaged and empowered to make choices, be involved in the decision about his/her care, and understand the implications and expenses involved.  With virtual care, patients are seeing a much more transparent view of healthcare and are able to wield more influence in how, where and when they will be treated.

The continued adoption and utilization of virtual care will change the delivery of healthcare by transforming the reach and resonance of healthcare organizations. Technology can increase the overall timing, quality and comprehensiveness of healthcare delivered, improving patient satisfaction and health outcomes.

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