by David Voss, Client Services Director
Over the last few months, telehealth and remote solutions have been rapidly launched to ensure continuity and access for patients across the entire healthcare network. Now that these measures are in place, looking at the long-term effects, security concerns, and overall effectiveness of these strategies is needed in order to continue to drive value in telehealth strategies.
Estimates in early April 2020 show that telehealth visits could top 1 billion by year-end. Most agree that telehealth is here to stay. However, most also understand that the current environment, almost entirely without CMS restriction, will eventually come to an end. When that happens, organizations will be forced to revisit their newly implemented telehealth and remote working strategies.
Prior to the pandemic, there were three barriers impacting the adoption of these tools: cost, availability, and patient/provider relationships. Those barriers became largely nonexistent after a national state of emergency was declared due to COVID-19 as government and health officials urged doctors and patients to limit or cancel all in-person visits and use telehealth visits to bridge the gap. This change forced both patients and providers to adopt technologies that helped foster the beginnings of confidence and user adoption by the masses.
Reducing the cost for organizations to implement and adopt telehealth, the Trump administration declared that Medicare and Medicaid would pay equally for virtual visits and in-office visits. Additionally, CMS allowed for relaxed regulations in the use of their personal and company mobile devices for these virtual visits. These allowances virtually erased the barriers of cost and availability.
Few will argue that these provisions and amendments to policy were poor judgment. Due to the nature and explosive expanse of the pandemic, extreme measures in guidelines and policy had to be taken and implemented immediately. As we return to normal though, many of us may be wondering, what will telehealth look like post- COVID19? Likely, government and health officials will begin to tighten guidelines and restrictions around telehealth and remote working strategies.
Adding additional confusion and complexity to the issue is the fact that there is no given expiration date of these relaxed restrictions. CMS simply states that “The telehealth waiver will be effective until the PHE declared by the Secretary of HHS on January 31, 2020 ends.” Depending on how and when restrictions are reinforced, it could create a second nightmare scenario where organizations are again forced to implement rushed changes that could negatively impact revenue streams and patient outcomes.
Investing time and resources on strategic advisory and other measures to prepare for the future, is more important than ever. It is imperative to understand the short and long-term effects of these newly implemented strategies, what changes can and will be expected, and all internal and external barriers. Now that these measures are in place, many organizations are faced with assessing their initial deployment and optimizing the technology to better align with and drive value from their telehealth strategy.
As COVID-19 response measures wind down in the U.S., you may find your organization in a similar position as many others that quickly implemented new platforms or scaled current solutions. As your organization prepares for a possible second wave of COVID-19 response measures in the Fall of 2020 or as you take a step back to review your overall engagement and telehealth strategy, our consulting team would love to partner with you to determine where you are in your telehealth journey and help optimize the current solutions you have implemented.
About the Author
David Voss
Client Services Director, Divurgent
david.voss@divurgent.com
