Benefits of telehealth

What changes two years can bring. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the biggest shift in the recent history of healthcare and brought the benefits of telehealth to the forefront.

As recently as early 2020, telehealth had yet to enter the mainstream. It was reserved in large part for patients in rural areas with provider shortages or prohibitive distances to travel for healthcare.

With the onset of the pandemic, everyone, everywhere, needed a safer alternative to in-person visits, and the benefits of telehealth became clear. Here we will examine those benefits — both for patients and providers — and explain why telehealth is here to stay.

Skepticism about telehealth 

Initially, providers and patients were wary of transitioning to telehealth. There were process questions that needed answers. How would providers measure typical patient health data such as height, weight, or temperature as they would at in-person appointments? Could they rely only on patient reports about symptoms to make accurate diagnoses? How would they be reimbursed for the services provided?

For patients, aside from having to expand their symptom reporting skills, other challenges needed to be addressed. Connecting to the internet required adequate bandwidth to support the necessary technologies. Elder patients’ use of technology was another challenge with which to contend, along with the appropriate locations (at home or otherwise) that would allow patients sufficient privacy. How would it all work?

How telehealth benefits patients and providers

Flash forward to August 2021. A survey of Greenway clients revealed that 96% of providers conducted some form of telehealth visits, and most planned to continue to do so. Telehealth has remained a preferred method of providing and receiving care across the United States.

Although practices launched virtual care to provide appointments amid an outbreak, they have stayed with the technology for a variety of reasons. These include the usefulness of telehealth for mental or behavioral health appointments, lab reviews, and the many other appointment types that do not require in-person encounters.

What are the advantages of telehealth for patients?

Patients have voiced their desire to continue using telehealth to receive care too.

Aside from the obvious benefit of avoiding unsafe in-person interactions at the height of a pandemic, how does telehealth improve patient care?

The following are reasons patients prefer telehealth.

1. Improved access to providers. Patients have become more open to seeking medical care in general now that it is more readily available. Now they can visit providers from the comfort of their own homes.
2. Greater convenience and flexibility to schedule visits. The availability of appointments during workday hours makes telehealth an attractive alternative. Not having to attend in-office appointments means patients no longer must request time off from work or seek extra child or elder care.
3. Reduced financial burden. Having to attend in-office medical appointments meant patients also had to consider additional expenses such as tolls, parking, and gas. Now patients can avoid these expenses.
4. Reduced stress. Patients who were at risk of losing income from having to take time off from work or being absent altogether see substantial advantages with telehealth. Additionally, because patients no longer need to travel to in-person appointments, there is no need to rush, worry about traffic, or sit around waiting for appointments, which may also run late at times.

Use of telehealth benefits providers and enhances patient care

With telehealth on the rise, providers have spent more time with patients and become more productive as a result. This is a hallmark of a more patient-centered approach to care that is known to improve outcomes.

Furthermore, provider satisfaction is a major contributor to treatment success, better quality of care, and better outcomes across specialties.