The real opportunity lies in embedding telehealth as the new normal in the healthcare industry.

Telemedicine has helped strengthen the healthcare system and expand access to care at a crucial time when the COVID-19 pandemic severely restricted the patients’ ability to seek care. It has come to realize its true potential in the wake of the pandemic, leading to a massive acceleration in the use of telehealth services across the globe.

Telemedicine adoption has skyrocketed from 11 percent of the U.S. patients in 2019 to 46 percent in 2020. The providers have also scaled their service offering to offer telehealth, expanding their patient outreach to 50 to 175 times the number of patients’ pre-telehealth adoption. Interestingly, pre-pandemic, the total annual revenues of U.S. telehealth players were estimated at $3 billion, of which an immense focus was in the virtual urgent care segment. However, with the rapid adoption of telehealth and its extension beyond virtual urgent care, it is now expected to cross the $250 billion mark.

Telemedicine Surge During Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has radically changed the outlook for telehealth. The consumer use of telehealth and vaccine management and administration system has increased from 11 percent in 2019 to an astounding 76 percent in 2020. The surge is inherently driven by the immediate goal of avoiding exposure to COVID-19. Similarly, the provider use has increased 175 times the pre-COVID levels. Health systems, small and independent practices, behavioral health providers, and all other healthcare practitioners are rapidly scaling telehealth offerings to fill the gap between the demand and supply as well as canceled in-person care.

Interestingly, the regulatory requirements for telehealth services have also been relaxed during the pandemic to facilitate easy access to care. Additionally, the types of services available for telehealth have greatly expanded, with CMS approving of more than 80 new services. Also, several restrictions have been relaxed and lifted, allowing Medicare Advantage plans to conduct assessments through telehealth.

Many of these dynamics are expected to likely stay for at least the next 12 to 18 months until a vaccine for COVID-19 is available for mass roll-out. As the patients’ preferences for care access continue to evolve during the crisis period, virtual health is expected to become deeply embedded in the care delivery system.

Future of Telemedicine Post-Pandemic

Telemedicine capitalizes on its ability to engage and mobilize patients while increasing their access to care. This has led to the evolution of several care delivery models that offer a viable alternative to in-person visits. From one-off urgent visits to remote patient monitoring, telemedicine is fostering omnichannel care models to substitute office visits with virtual ones.

Interestingly, telemedicine is expected to stay beyond the pandemic and change the healthcare landscape for all the right reasons. According to a McKinsey report, around 20 percent of all ER visits and 24 percent of outpatient volume can potentially be avoided through virtual care. Similarly, up to 35 percent of regular home health attendant services can also be virtualized to facilitate home-based care and tech-enabled medication administration.

More importantly, scaling telehealth goes beyond merely alleviating the patient and provider concerns over limiting the coronavirus exposure. On a broader note, it significantly increases the access to necessary care in far-flung, challenging to reach regions, while addressing the critical concern of physician shortage. Access to behavioral and mental health is significantly facilitated as patients can seek personalized care in the comfort of their homes. All in all, these solutions make healthcare more convenient, more accessible, and more efficient.

The real opportunity then lies in embedding telehealth as the new normal in the healthcare industry. Virtual health must be built into new product designs to meet the continually changing patient requirements and preferences. At the same time, state-level initiatives should be taken to built provider capabilities to support virtual care. Intervention plans must be devised and implemented to rationalize telehealth to go beyond the pandemic to order high-quality, distinctive care to the patients.