How the healthcare industry is embracing new technologies to support digital care delivery

A doctor is conducting a routine preventative visit. She asks the patient about any changes to his health, making notes and pulling up medical records to check his most recent test results and last recorded vital signs. But she won’t pull out her stethoscope — because the patient isn’t really there. He’s miles away, sitting in front of a computer.

It’s an increasingly familiar scene. More than ever before, healthcare providers and consumers alike are turning to virtual and digitally-supported care. A  study conducted by HIMSS and Spectrum Enterprise found that organizations that already had telehealth solutions in place saw a 145 percent increase in their use since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As telehealth options become more prevalent, it’s changing the way healthcare organizations (HCOs) operate, drive patient satisfaction, and pursue better patient outcomes. But along with it, HCOs must evolve their technology infrastructure to support these new digital care delivery models.

COVID-19 catalyzes digital health transformation

The pandemic didn’t invent telehealth — but it did accelerate its adoption. Between social distancing measures to reduce the spread of infection and reduced in-person capacity in healthcare facilities, COVID-19 was the catalyst that pushed these solutions from the margins to the forefront of healthcare. And HCOs stepped up. IDC survey data found that about two years’ worth of digital transformation was tackled in the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic — proof of just how much organizations can evolve when they go all-in.

The other piece of the puzzle was whether HCOs would have the resources to support digital health transformation. Increased government funding and expanded reimbursement measures both helped make it possible for providers to expand telehealth options. Specifically, $450 million in emergency COVID-19 telehealth funding. On top of this, Forrester reports that more than 150 pieces of legislation have been introduced to improve telehealth reimbursement or make access to telehealth care easier in the last few years.

HIMSS and Spectrum Enterprise found that 39 percent of HCOs used general government grants to cover the cost of telehealth, and 29 percent used grants from private sources like foundations. Medicare and Medicaid now reimburse virtual visits at the same rate as in-office visits, and have expanded reimbursements for telehealth services and remote patient monitoring (RPM).

What’s more, the rise in telehealth appears to have staying power even after the pandemic recedes: A reforecasting of the telehealth market by Frost & Sullivan illustrates a spike in usage in 2020 and beyond. Before COVID-19, the telehealth compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2019-2025 was 28 percent; that forecast has since been revised to 38 percent.

HCOs are also predicting an uptick in telehealth interactions in the months and years ahead. The recent study by HIMSS and Spectrum Enterprise found HCOs anticipate an average increase of 53 percent post-pandemic.

Opening the digital front door

Central to healthcare’s digital transformation is the digital front door, an omnichannel approach to give patients a consistent experience across all touchpoints.

The digital front door gives patients online access to an HCO’s products and services. This can include scheduling appointments, accessing test results and key health metrics, communicating with healthcare providers, and more.

Underpinning these interactions are technologies like online patient portals, live video, and store-and-forward technologies. These technologies allow for both real-time virtual visits between patients and healthcare providers, and additional follow-up, support, and check-ins at the user’s convenience.

Scaling up a personal touch

Digital healthcare options, designed to mirror the experience of an in-person appointment, can also increase the personalized care each patient receives.

Automation — at its core, any technology intended to reduce human input, can handle highly repeatable tasks. And automation of many administrative and historically manual processes means healthcare staff can provide the same level of service with fewer resources. Emailed appointment reminders, SMS messages with healthy lifestyle tips, localized community alerts about disease outbreaks, and more, all delivered digitally to the right patients at the right time.

Meanwhile, mobile health and remote patient monitoring (RPM) allow providers to keep an eye on patients’ health metrics from afar and deliver personalized advice at scale. Heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, oxygen levels, and weight can be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes and can keep the patient’s healthcare team informed in between scheduled appointments.

This telecare approach is increasingly important as a growing number of U.S. adults face chronic illness. Almost half of Americans have at least one chronic illness, and this number is expected to rise. Monitoring key health indicators can make all the difference — it can mean avoiding escalation to costly ER visits or hospital stays and improved outcomes for patients.

The next frontier of wellness

Fortunately, nearly two-thirds of patients surveyed are already willing to use telehealth to manage chronic disease. It’s part of a larger shift in consumer adoption of digital platforms and tools to monitor, manage, and augment every aspect of their lives — including their health.

Around 7 in 10 Americans currently use mobile apps to track at least one health indicator. The same telemedicine market research found that 60 percent of adults monitor their weight, diet and exercise using mobile devices, and 33 percent track conditions like sleep patterns, headaches, blood glucose, blood pressure, and chronic pain. By meeting patients where they are, on the go and on the devices they’re using every day, patients are more likely to monitor their own health indicators.

Patients’ lives are increasingly digital-driven, with computer screens, mobile devices, and the Internet of Things (IoT) weaving technology into the fabric of daily life. Armed with applications that monitor and respond to inputs on a personalized level, consumers are primed to use these technologies to support their own health and wellness. And some HCOs are giving patients the tools to do just that, from the digital front door to the ability to track their own health indicators and help providers deliver improved patient outcomes.

Find out more about digital infrastructure readiness in healthcare facilities.