Telemedicine is essentially digitally-enabled healthcare, facilitated by telephone, video, and other telecommunications technologies. Although being around for decades, it only received due recognition after the outbreak of the deadline COVID-19 pandemic, in which the world and literally walks of life were put to a halt. Interestingly, all major players across the U.S. healthcare industry had made significant investments in the field of telemedicine only as recent as last year, which has defiantly paid off in the wake of the current situation.

The important question then remains as to how will telemedicine expansion impact physician practices. Let us consider the good, the bad, and the ugly of this phenomenon and outline what to expect of such in the near future.

The Good

Telemedicine, despite bot, is a novel technology, still remains the buzzword in the healthcare industry. The most prominent and widely acknowledged benefit accruing of the implementation and expansion of telemedicine remains the cost-cut and time-effectiveness in patient-physician encounters. Relying on the advancements in technology, physicians can now use video visits, smartphone images, and audio calls to assess, diagnose and treat patients, managing their health-related problems more actively and in a much time-efficient manner. Offering opportunities for substantial cost-savings, telemedicine expansion has made patient access and patient care much more cost-effective, reducing the medical costs significantly.

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This has then added renewed focus on value-based care as telemedicine has come into the limelight. For instance, video conferencing in an ambulance using EMR system can readily share information, including patient images and other important clinical data, to a remote trauma team at a relevant emergency department. As a result, patient care and treatment become a streamlined process, enabling substantial time savings as well as a reduction in treatment costs.

Moreover, costs associated with a brick-and-mortar office are also significantly reduced. Telemedicine expansion has allowed a reduction in waiting times to see a particular provider, especially specialists while allowing patient-centric care more readily accessible. It has resulted in streamlining workflows for the providers themselves.

Another worth-mentioning impact is how effectively telemedicine has addressed physician shortage. According to a recent survey, the U.S. is expected to face a significant physician shortage of approximately 120,000 physicians by 2030. And while the patient population is aging fast and also in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, the number of American patients is expected to significantly multiply by 2040. Hence, having one healthcare provider will be no longer a benefit that Americans can enjoy in the foreseeable future. This is where telemedicine promises a viable solution in terms of easing the burden on physicians. Similarly, in terms of rural patients, telemedicine expansion has allowed improved access to preventive care.

The Bad

However, despite the proven benefits accruing from telemedicine expansion, many physicians still remain skeptical about how this technology has impacted their practices. The most prominent concern hereby remains as to whether or not telemedicine offers an equivalent to traditional in-person visits.

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At the same time, the physicians are unclear about their revenue flows in lieu of telemedicine becoming a mainstream phenomenon. What merits discussion here is the pre-COVID-19 situation versus the current situation. According to a survey conducted by Medical Economics in 2017, providers were much reluctant in investing in telemedicine, despite the time-effectiveness and cost-savings. Their premise remained that they were unsure of their return on investment. Between the price tags on then telemedicine platforms and the uncertainty regarding costs of liability, insurance, and payer reimbursements, the physicians particularly rate the investment “too risky”. However, the current situation is starkly different.

Another concern of telemedicine expansion to physicians is the domain of technical and technological training. Building an effective telemedicine program requires restructuring of the staff, purchasing equipment, and vocational training of the physicians themselves. Physicians, practice managers, and other medical staff need to be technically trained on the new systems to ensure the delivery of superior quality service as well as to guarantee a solid ROI.

Moreover, telemedicine expansion inevitably translates into fewer in-person consultations. This, however, is a concern for both the patients and the physicians alike. Many providers and patients are worried about the lack of personal touch, even in the simplest of checkups that can easily be performed digitally. Not being able to see the physician in-person has a major impact on the patient satisfaction levels, which worries the physicians too.

The Ugly

The worst reality of the telemedicine regime is that no two practices are the same. Hence, no two strategies might be the same. And therefore, the diagnosis and treatment of one practice might differ from the other.

The ugliest part of telemedicine is the tricky policies and reimbursement rules. Owing to rapid expansion in telemedicine in recent times, healthcare laws, reimbursement policies and privacy protection rules are struggling hard to keep abreast with the fast-growing industry. This has become a worrisome stumbling block for physicians offering telemedicine, calling for research into the policy landscape for telemedicine.

Way Forward

Telemedicine has extremely promising prospects in terms of promoting efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing patient satisfaction. What is the need of the hour is proactive research into the field in terms of how remote care delivery models can be developed, implemented, and expanded to treat patients. And despite the limitations and concerns, healthcare providers need to necessarily innovate and adopt telemedicine.