Aug 12
2020
Is Your Telehealth Strategy Aligned To The “New Normal”?
By Dhaval Shah, senior vice president of medical technology, and Neha Vora, healthcare consultant of medical technology, CitiusTech
In the current COVID-19 disrupted world, telehealth has seen unprecedented growth in adoption, as it minimizes the risk of exposure and aligns with the concept of social distancing. This has made healthcare systems accelerate the adoption of these services and also rapidly scale their processes to address the growing need of virtual care, as opposed to in-person visits and services.
And the acceleration is anticipated to continue for the foreseeable future. According to a report by Global Market Insights, the telemedicine market is set to be valued at $175.5 billion by 2026.[1] Today, more than 50% of U.S. hospitals provide telehealth services in some form or other,[2] and to meet the anticipated market growth, many more hospitals will adopt telehealth in the coming years.
Increased demand for remote/virtual care combined with federal and state derestriction has provided the much-needed stimulus for health systems to fast track their digital transformation journey in this space. Studies predict that 30% of all care will be delivered virtually post-pandemic as people start to see telehealth as their first point of contact for urgent care needs.
This brings us to the real question that each healthcare system needs to ask: “Is the current telehealth strategy aligned for the post-COVID world – the new normal?”