| | June 20189UTLOOK Healthcare Tech As consumer behavior and expectations for on-demand services at the time and location of their preference transfer to health care, we expect to see telemedicine and mobile health offerings grow"a consumer-driven experience where an overall service offering can be personalized based on an individual patient's requirements, and the type of experience they value. In a time of digital advancement, we find that many new offerings are returning to a house call model. As consumer behavior and expectations for on-demand services at the time and location of their preference transfer to health care, we expect to see telemedicine and mobile health offerings grow. The physician performing a house call today has access to many tools via their smart phone to perform comprehensive patient examinations. Insurance coverage continues to be limited, however, and there is no reimbursement parity across states, resulting in limited access for many patients. The following are some shifts that health care providers should consider to ensure their organizations are embracing a consumer-centric approach to telemedicine offerings:· Mhealth: Mobile Health provides options for around-the-clock patient health care monitoring. When mobile devices such as smartphones and wearables are used, it enables real-time, proactive alerting and triage of issues versus reactive care. This can then be combined with telemedicine when intervention is needed. · Preventive vs. Reactive: Current state sick care will continue to move to preventive well care as population health models mature.· Scheduling: Consumers are driving a shift to a more patient-focused, convenient experience where appointments are being scheduled around the patient rather than the provider.· Economics: As consumers bear more of their health care cost, they are demanding increased transparency around price and the financial implications of care decisions.· Quality: As patients become more empowered health care consumers, they are educating themselves about quality of care variations between providers and facilities. This will play an increasingly important role in a patient's decision around the overall value of the care they select. · Consumer Ratings: Provider ratings systems will become increasingly important to patients when deciding who to select for care.· Data Ownership: Empowered patients will begin to take greater ownership of their medical records. In the same manner as they do in their normal lives, patients expect to easily exchange and aggregate clinical information during their care journey. This is reinforced by millennials who have embraced data sharing among social platforms to promote wellness and awareness around health conditions. Telemedicine is on a trajectory to become a large portion of patient and provider interaction. As technology continues to be more integrated into our daily lives, I predict we will see an acceptance of telemedicine to the extent that it becomes a normal format for a doctor visit. The physical versus digital method of access will become irrelevant in all but the types of care that require physical contact. Telemedicine provides consumers choice and convenience, the embodiment of a consumer-centric care offering. HT
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