Contrary to what many people think, virtual health care, also known as telemedicine or telehealth, is much more than a cheap digital knockoff of in-person care. When used appropriately, it improves patient health, reduces costs, and makes care more equitable and accessible to anyone with a smartphone. Its use has soared during the Covid era—and the authors argue that providers around the world should aggressively strive to tap its full potential even after the pandemic abates.
More gains in quality, affordability, and accessibility are on the way
During the first surge of Covid-19 cases, when it accounted for 69% of doctor-patient visits. Similar patterns have been seen across Europe and Asia over the past two years, prompting some governments to take actions in support of telehealth. The European Parliament and the European Council recently announced the EU4Health program to spur the sharing of digital health records, e-prescriptions, and telehealth in general. And Saudi Arabia is implementing a strategy that includes smartphone applications and a network to connect specialized facilities with primary care centers and hospitals in remote areas.
But in many countries, barriers in the form of regulations, payment regimes, and patient acceptance remain. Any nation seeking to raise health care quality, increase access, and lower costs should be expanding, not contracting, the use of virtual care.
Those who drive to the ER will endure a two-hour wait, on average, along with duplicative testing and wildly inflated prices. ER services are 12 times as expensive as visiting a physician’s office and waste more than $32 billion each year, according to a 2019 analysis by UnitedHealth Group.
Having analyzed health outcomes data from the independent National Committee for Quality Assurance, health plan member satisfaction surveys from J.D. Power, and internal data from our own organizations, we are confident that full implementation of five opportunities would improve clinical quality nationwide by 20%, increase access to care by 20%, and reduce health care spending by 15% to 20%.
