| | JUNE 202219UTLOOKHealthcare Tech CXO INSIGHTSWhen it comes to the consumer experience and the needs and desires of patients, the healthcare industry has been behind the times for too long. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and vast transformations in telehealth, healthcare providers and systems have an opportunity to reimagine traditional methods of care and refocus their efforts on patient-centered services. Healthcare has not focused enough on "patient-centered care," or care that emphasizes the specific needs of the individual, and the purchasing power of patients has long been limited by the way in which care has been historically delivered ­ in-person. But those of us in healthcare have longed for the industry to stop relying on reputation or narrow contractual agreements with health plans to maintain a patient base. Instead, the desire is for healthcare to embrace the technological innovations that have transformed other businesses, such as the travel and banking industries, and leverage mobile, online and video technologies to provide more personalized, timely care. Telehealth, which is the delivery of healthcare services over a distance using telecommunications and other digital health technologies, has had the potential to create new models of care that are more patient-centered. Unfortunately, because of healthcare payment models, difficulties in change management, a lack of incentives, and hesitancy from health care providers, telehealth adoption was painfully slow.Then Along Came COVID...With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, physicians and healthcare systems had little choice but to adopt telehealth given the public health emergency. The stay-at-home and sheltering recommendations meant that patients could only see their primary care and urgent care providers using telehealth. Restrictions limiting telehealth use were lifted by federal and state agencies to make it an effective and financially sustainable model of care. For many healthcare systems, including UC Davis Health, the use of telehealth for outpatient or ambulatory visits rose in early 2021 from 1-2 percent to approximately 70 percent during the first waves of the pandemic. The percentage of care encounters that are delivered using telehealth has since vacillated with different surges, but has settled between 15 percent and 30 percent Recent advancements in electronic health record systems, patient portals, videoconferencing technologies and apps makes it even easier to get care. Patients can message their physicians and healthcare teams by text, phone, or video about all types of issues, including urgent and non-urgent needs, and physicians and other providers can easily respond using these same methods. Physicians can consult with other specialists or provider teams behind the scenes and these eConsultations can result in more rapid advice and education compared to a traditional in-person referral to a specialist. Telehealth can also be used Then Along Came COVID:An Opportunity to Reimagine Healthcare DeliveryBy Dr. James Marcin, Director of Health and Technology, UC Davis HealthDr. James Marcin
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