It’s no secret that the post-pandemic world we live in now is vastly different than before. Schools and businesses have shifted their efforts to accommodate people virtually due to the dangers of physical contact. Healthcare is not an exception to this, as many doctors have started to adopt Telehealth to safeguard the well-being of their health care staff and patients. There has already been a large push to embrace this technology by many firms across the world already.
Take for example in the U.S, where a study published in the Journal of the American Informatics Association states that virtual urgent care visits at NYU Langone Health grew by 683%, and non-urgent virtual-care visits grew by a 4,345% percent between March 2 and April 14 alone (Jercich, 2020).
Congestion of hospitals, long wait times, and fear of external factors has now created a trend for both patients and providers to adopt Telehealth. Every medical care provider will differ in terms of how they will implement Telehealth if at all, and will have to find a suitable balance between treating their patients online and in-person. Telehealth firms have not stated it is a replacement to in-person treatment, but it is more so an extremely valuable tool healthcare providers can integrate into their firms with many benefits.
According to a new report by Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm involved in market research and analysis, they forecast sevenfold growth in Telehealth by 2025 with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 38.2% (Miliard, 2020). The necessity for social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic seems to continue the drive of demand and urgency for both providers and patients to seek the solution of Telehealth.
Overall, Telehealth is rapidly growing and is being widely accepted by both patients and providers alike. Likewise, as this demand increases, healthcare providers and professionals should look into how Telehealth can adapt and benefit their needs to provide quality care to patients.
References:
Jerich, K. (2020, May 6). Telehealth has staying power, should benefit from lasting regulatory changes. Healthcare IT News. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/telehealth-has-staying-power-should-benefit-lasting-regulatory-changes
Miliard, M. (2020, May 19). Telehealth set for \’tsunami of growth,\’ says frost & Sullivan. Healthcare IT News. Retrieved September 9, 2020, from https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/telehealth-set-tsunami-growth-says-frost-sullivan