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Telemedicine Is Expected to Continue Expanding in 2017

Improvements in telecommunications have enabled the recent rise of telemedicine, which is enabling users to access a surprising range of healthcare in a more convenient manner than otherwise possible. As a result, it shows no signs of slowing down for the foreseeable future.

Here are three of the reasons that telemedicine is expected to become a bigger and bigger part of the healthcare sector in 2017:

Rising Consumer Demand

There is enormous interest in telemedicine, which in turn, means plenty of opportunities for telemedicine providers. In part, this is because of consumers who want their healthcare in as convenient a manner as possible. However, it should also be noted that there are other entities out there that like telemedicine because it can provide a partial offset for the ever-rising costs of healthcare on a systematic basis.

Increasing Need For Cost Management

At the moment, it seems probable that the Affordable Healthcare Act will see changes that will result in more uninsured consumers as well as more consumers on health insurance policies with higher deductibles. As a result, it seems probable that consumers will have to put more care and consideration into managing the costs of their healthcare, which is likely to result in the increasing use of telemedicine.

After all, telemedicine can help said individuals get preventative care with minimal disruption to their normal routines, thus reducing their healthcare costs in the long run through two ways. First, prevention is always cheaper than treatment, and second, the sooner that a potential issue is detected, the cheaper it will be to treat.

MACRA

In October of 2016, legislation called MACRA was passed that will provide new opportunities for tech-based innovation in the healthcare system, with telemedicine being an excellent example of such innovations.

Further Considerations

These trends suggest that it is probable that telemedicine will continue to rise in 2017, but their exact impact will remain unpredictable for now. As a result, interested individuals should keep a watchful eye on the matter as it continues to develop.

A Duke University study will analyze the benefits of telehealth services for physical therapy patients.

A new study launched by Duke University will help to assess the benefits of telehealth services for physical therapy patients. The Clinical Research Institute is looking at the benefits of Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation In-home Therapy, or VERITAS. The program will focus on patients going through total knee replacements as the use virtual exercise rehabilitation (VERA) to assist with the healing process.

Evaluating physical therapy in the home

A critical part of rehabilitation after surgery is physical therapy. A control group will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the telehealth program as it may help lower the costs of healthcare, reach more people in need of care in remote regions, and improve the quality of care. Patients may do better with a home-based program. While supervision will still be required as this is a new program that hasn’t been fully evaluated, it’s a good start.

According to CDC estimates, there are about 700,000 patients that have total knee replacements (TKR) every year. As more people are requiring knee replacements due to age, osteoporosis, and activity, there may be more than 3 million people that will require these procedures by the year 2030.

More Focused Care

These specific types of studies are important to healthcare providers as a procedure can cost about $33,000. A hands-on and focused treatment plan may also help patients recover faster as the telehealth and mHealth platforms will allow patients to have care in their own home. This may mean less travel time for patients, less waiting time, and reduced anxiety as the patient is in a home setting and not that of a hospital. It’s been noted that about 7 out of 10 patients don’t follow a physical therapy schedule in a clinical setting.

The VERITAS program will help physical therapists keep patients engaged as it uses Khan, an mHealth company. As patients work with therapists from the comfort of their homes, additional studies may be suggested in the future. These can help with stroke recovery patients and those going through prosthetic training. The study will use about 300 patients in the U.S. and the evaluations will include the associated costs, recovery time, clinical outcomes and types of health services used.

Parkinson’s disease is a gradual disease of the nervous system, which is noticeable by muscular rigidity, tremor, and imprecise movement. It mainly affects middle-aged as well as seniors. This disease has been on the rise in the United States of America, where about 1 million people are living with it with 60,000 other new cases that are reported annually.

It has been reported that about 40% of individuals suffering from this disease are not able to see a neurologist within the first four years of the diagnosis. This could be as result of the few numbers of professionals in this area. Some patients end up suffering limited mobility as the disease continues to advance and therefore limiting their chances of acquiring medical appointments. People with Parkinson’s disease also enjoy some benefits of seeing a specialist frequently just as other patients who battle chronic illness.

This is quite helpful and can prevent any chance of them developing a hip fracture and losing their independence.

The introduction and use of teleneurology have helped so many Parkinson’s disease patients to have regular access to specialty care. It is a technology that enables specialist to see patients at their residences or nurse-managed clinics in certain areas. The technology that operates similarly to Skype is also compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

A tremendous growth in the entire telehealth sector has been witnessed since the introduction of this new telemedicine method. More support has been shown by close to 30 states that have established laws asking private insurers to extend their cover policies to telehealth services too.

This telemedicine service has been used by professional neurologists to offer follow-up care to patients at various clinics in different locations. Another service that can be provided through this is concierge-type teleneurology where patients can pay with their money for a practical visit at their homes.

A large number of people have responded positively to this service that is now spreading worldwide. In the United States of America alone, some Parkinson’s disease patients that is higher than 1 million stands to benefit from this. This is a real improvement in the health sector and should be supported and encouraged.

Wasted time is a horrible thought for anyone. You never want to feel like your time has been wasted in any instance and that includes when you are getting medical care. On average Americans spend 19 minutes and 16 seconds to wait to see their doctor. Over the course of years this is extremely tiring and for a lot of Americans they’ve had enough of it.

An IT specialist in Everett, Washington, Elaine Farstad who works at Boeing for example figured out the wages that she makes on an hourly basis and sent her doctor a bill because of the time she had wasted on waiting. While there are some details that many agree on when it comes to the health care industry, there’s one thing for sure… your time is of value and you should never feel like it’s been wasted.

There are some strides that are taking place in the health care industry… they are attempting to reinforce the service quality that you receive along with the experience the patient has. Technology is now become a great factor in helping to make health care easier for people in a lot of different ways.

There have been a lot of great opportunities that have come along with the introduction of telehealth. When it comes to how patients receive care while they are still at work, in their home or even while they are at school, telehealth has played a major role. It doesn’t just lowering the amount of time you have to wait in the doctors office, but it also lowers the stress of trying to get to the office for your appointment and it even saves you money. Not only does it save the patient money, but it also saves the health care system money as well.

In the beginning the use of telehealth was seen by patients that were in rural areas. Now it has grown and patients that are considered to be city-dwellers are using it as well. The CEO of the American Telemedicine Association, Jonathan Linkous, says that about 15 million people in the United States received health care that included telehealth in 2014. That number has an expected growth of 20 million this year.

In the past few years, its been determined that patients are preferring telemedicine over the in-person doctors visits. As video conferencing continues to advance, its now easier to integrate with smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. All that’s required is a reliable connection and HIPAA compliance to deliver the same healthcare as an in-office visit.

It’s been noted that in the last year alone, of the nearly 1 billion in-office visits, about half could have benefited from remote telemedicine according to the American Telemedicine Association. While telemedicine cannot replace a doctor’s visit, the average in-office visit is less than ten-minutes. Patients don’t seem to mind as a telemedicine visit can shorten their drive time and there are other factors that come into play:

Telemedicine visits offer convenience for physicians and patients

For people who live in remote regions, having a telemedicine service makes healthcare easier to manage. People in rural areas don’t have to travel as far and the video visits are convenient. There are patients in remote parts of Alaska who use telemedicine, as well as patients who offer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and rarely leave their homes. Telemedicine has also been received well by new moms at home with newborns and prison staff who may need to consult with a physician about a potential psych case.

It isn’t just the convenience of not having to travel far. Patients are reporting that they don’t have to take as much time off from work due to reduced waiting time to be seen. Patients prefer to not have to sit with sick people because it can exacerbate their symptoms. This is also reflected in the elderly, with children and chemotherapy patients

Attentive staff and better record keeping

Patients are reporting that they enjoy the telemedicine videos because they are finding more dedicated time with their doctors. Virtual visits still include getting vitals and answering questions which allows patients that one-on-one time to consult with a physician who isn’t rushed with a roomful of other patients waiting.

There’s a convenient record keeping aspect that is helping medical staff, as well. Physicians can take remote images of their patients, any unusual growths or injuries and then follow-up with them to compare the images. Because these records are stored remotely, the doctor has them readily accessible and can get all of the information without waiting on a medical records release or x-rays in the mail.

Its still shocking that this trend is continuing to be received so well given that its a video conference that patients are preferring. For patients its reassuring to know that they don’t have to wait for care and the doctor is right there – no matter where in the world he or she might be located.

The Affordable Care Act is a significant milestone in the US healthcare reforms process. Although the law was meant to enhance healthcare access particularly among the low-income earners and the middle class, its implementation has been facing myriad obstacles, and the idea of cheap insurance companies covering all medicals costs is becoming more elusive. According to Drew Altman, the president and the chief executive of the Kaiser Family Foundation, the nation has witnessed a major drift from what health insurance means for most Americans.

Altman notes that although the premiums have remained relatively stable, the deductibles for insurance that is sponsored by employers have gone through the roof as businesses struggle to cut cost. Employers are offering some incentives to keep their employees healthier, but the problem is that many of them are now limiting the choices of their employees when it comes to health care; they are offering narrow-network plans.

About 12.7 Americans are relying on individual health insurance from marketplaces established under the federal Affordable Care Act and another 7 million covered under the expansion of Medicaid and other provision of Obamacare. However, about 150 million Americans get their health insurance through their employers. That means that the largest part of the health insurance market in the US is outside the Affordable Care Act.

The 2016 employer health benefits survey conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation indicates that the premiums paid for employer-sponsored health insurance plans went up by 3.4% in 2016. The report further notes that the deductibles we up by 12%. Over the last five years, premiums rose by 20% while deductibles for single employees grew by 49%. This is worrying because it suggests that the medical costs are being passed to the employees, and these rates are much higher compared to inflation and wages.

According to Gary Claxton, the deputy president of Kaiser Family Foundation, the out-of-pocket medical costs are also on the rise. Gary further notes the increase in out-of-pocket medical expenses and the astronomically high deductibles among other forms of cost-sharing are only discouraging the consumption of medical services.

In conclusion, it is apparent that although the Affordable Care Act was meant to increase access to health insurance, that goal is far from being achieved. Premiums and deductibles keep going up, and the medical cost is being passed to the very people the law was meant to relieve. Besides, policies of the Obamacare are offering limited coverage and therefore, the out-of-pockets medical costs have gone through the roof.

It is no news that healthcare is getting ever more expensive. Baby boomers have turned to the internet for the solution. Baby boomers are people aged between 51 and 69. Over 60% of baby boomers are using cloud healthcare service Care Cloud to manage and upgrade their health records.

A higher percentage of baby boomers are utilizing these services that their younger counterparts, the Millennials and Generation X. they also have their older counterparts, senior citizens i.e. aged over 70 beat in this regard. They use the cloud-based service, to refill prescriptions and contact health care providers. Baby boomers are really taking advantage of digital healthcare tools.

It seems that they are more concerned about their health even using the services to ask doctors follow up questions. Reviewing your physician online has not taken off as well as the other uses of digital healthcare tools.

All of the places that people search to find a doctor, the website of their health insurer is the one they will probably use. It is a stark contrast to twenty years ago when referrals were the most common way for people to find a doctor. It is a testament to how much the internet has revolutionized the healthcare system.

Though very few, there are those that use social media platforms to find a doctor. Slightly more people utilize doctors’ websites to find other doctors such as specialists. A fair amount of people use search engines results or a review and rating website to find a physician.

The fact that health insurers are the go-to source for finding a doctor is no surprise due to the economic benefits of doing so. Online patient portals rule the modes of communication that patients prefer to use with their physicians.

Millennials will most likely change health care providers in order to use their online resources than any other age group. Online communication between doctors and their patients will continue to grow into the foreseeable future.

Mobile apps are extremely popular… there are so many different companies and sites that have mobile apps that make it extremely helpful for consumers/customers. The popularity of it has grow so much so that Pfizer Inc. has recently introduced a mobile app as well… the purpose of it is to be able to improve the monitoring and coping with depression.

Moodivator, which is what the name of the app will be, will have some great features, one of which is a mood tracker. This will be a simple scale that will allow patients to measure their emotional self-awareness throughout the day. It will also allow them to securely share their results with their family members and even professionals that work in the mental health field.

Patients will also be able to make goals for themselves as well as action plans that are relative to work, family, home and other social activities they may be involved in. This app has been designed to help balance the treatment that a patient will receive… it allows them to track their moods helping them keep a diary style of their mood, set goals the patient wants to meet and the patient will also be able to establish routines… this may help support the patient in their everyday life, according to Pfizer.

Dr. Susan Kornstein was consulted on designing the app; she is a psychiatry professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. Dr. Kornstein says the ability for patients to be able to track and export how they are feeling as well as see the progress they’ve made in the goals they’ve set in a way that is easy for them to read is extremely useful; and knowing this can be shared with doctors will help notify them of decisions when it comes to their care. This app will also help patients with some of their therapy techniques especially in the area of cognitive behavior.

The Moodivator is currently available to download in the Apple App store for free. For Android users, there hasn’t been a version developed as of yet.

Donald Trump, the president-elect of America, is expected to come up with various changes under his government. He appointed Tom Price, who has been an opponent of the Affordable Care Act, to head the department of health and human services. Price has come up with an approach that will change the Obamacare policy.

The changes will do away with the Obamacare strategy where the government runs people insurance based on their income to a strategy that will offer fixed tax credit according to people’s age rather than their income. In this case, people could choose to buy their insurance policies on their own in the private market. The young will get lower tax credits than the old which shall be done annually.

Under price’s approach, people will be allowed to save income after tax in the health savings account in order to pay for their future health expenses. This will apply even to those who already have a health insurance cover.

In order to help the aged and the sick get insured without challenges, Price has come up with a strategy to cut off the cost of enrollment but at a small percentage. This will be attained by providing grants to states to insure the elderly and people with serious illness although the amount set aside for the project is way too low having set 3billion dollars for a 3-year period.

Companies and employers exclude some tax in order to cover their employees’ health insurance. This amount will be reduced under Price’s approach since he will put a limit on the amount that should be excluded.

The health insurers will be permitted to sell their policies anywhere in all the States of America. Health insurance will hence be treated like any other insurance products which can be bought anywhere along the state line.

From the changes expected, Price’s approach will favor the financially able, young, and healthy people while oppressing the sick, elderly, and the poor. Although it eliminates the Obamacare policy where one had to include other benefit packages on the insurance policy which made it more expensive, insurers could charge the elderly enrollment fees higher than they should since there is no limit under the Price approach.

Athletics has been something that many have enjoyed doing for many years… as time goes athletes get bigger and better than they were before; but along with the person getting bigger and stronger concussions have become a larger issue as well, especially in athletes that are playing football. And while things in athletics have progressed, concussions have become an extremely troubling part of football on every level as well. Luckily there have been strides taken in certain states that will help in transforming the way things have been done in the past.

The Houston Texans in conjunction with GE have teamed up with the Houston Methodist Concussion Center and came up with a pilot that will be very beneficial for many. They have funded a telemedicine pilot that will run on trial for two years… it is focused on bringing specialized care for concussions. This care will be specifically for student athletes at 19 of the rural school districts that are found in Texas.

One of the portions of the pilot focuses on having an athletic trainer from Houston Methodist go out to the school or training facility, respectively, to give a comprehensive concussion evaluation whenever a student athlete has been injured during a game or even in practice and they have a suspected concussion.

Once this evaluation is done a physician from the Houston Methodist Concussion Center will give an examination through an HIPPAA-compliant video connection that is done online… they will be able to give a diagnosis as well as plan a treatment plan for the athlete.

Telemedicine is great especially in these situations… if you have an evaluation done as soon as possible when you think a concussion has happened then you can start treatments sooner… telemedicine saves you an office trip as well as time. In Texas, many student athletes find themselves two to three hours away from a concussion specialist; this program will allow the same level of care with concussions for everyone in the state in a viable amount of time.

If the Houston Texans, GE Healthcare and Houston Methodist Concussion Center find that this pilot is successful, the intend on expanding the program so all athletes that are in Texas will have access to telemedicine and the care experts for concussions. There has been an estimate of 3.8 million traumatic brain injuries every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention… the majority of these injuries seem to go untreated… hopefully this number can be reduced with this program.