Telehealth: Opportunities from a Consumer’s Perspective
I recently moderated a panel focused on consumerism at a national health care leadership conference and thus, have been thinking about the topic often. My thoughts and pursuits mostly center on what it means to me to be an engaged and satisfied consumer. Today I wear my consumer hat. Two recent family health care experiences suddenly made me aware that as a consumer, I want access to telehealth. (Note: for purposes of this blog, the word telehealth is used to mean a real-time video visit with a clinician.)
I mean – I really want telehealth as a delivery option more often – it’s a patient satisfier in my book! While it’s not all that defines my consumer mindset, I realize now that telehealth is a care delivery model that works for my family, our lifestyle, and our budget. It’s not that I haven’t utilized telehealth before, but at the time it was the only option and I never really thought much about it again. That is, until my recent “a-ha”, which solidified that I want telehealth or “virtual options” as a choice – all of the time, when clinically appropriate.
Faster access to care
Midwestern winters (and apparently in Arizona, too) can be dangerous and this year has been no exception. Following a recent tumble on the ice, I found myself on the receiving side of injured wrist. I knew it wasn’t broken – everything moved and the pain went away in two days – UNTIL it returned two weeks later while brushing a concrete slab of snow from my rental car with the world’s tiniest snowbrush! As a busy, traveling professional, I was two states removed from my family doctor, so I shoved a brace on it and went on with life chalking it up to typing too much.
Four days later I awoke to a panoramic forearm of purple, green and orange hues. I had no time for that – I needed to catch a plane! I immediately began searching for orthopedic telehealth providers in my area, continuing to expand my search wider and wider until it occurred to me that I might need an x-ray. So I hopped in my car and drove 25 minutes to an orthopedic urgent care, which was the only one of its kind that I could find in my Google search of two metropolitan counties.
Turns out I didn’t need an x-ray and had my diagnosis, a new brace, and was home in just over three hours. Perhaps I should be happy with my three hour turnaround time, but I want more. I want to know before I leave my house if I need to leave my house and I want guidance on where to go if I do. Understanding price and insurance coverage would be an added benefit – and likely a blog for another day. In this case, a telehealth visit would have been sufficient and the brace could have been delivered or picked up – resulting in a very satisfied patient. Don’t get me wrong – I was satisfied with the visit, but found myself still wishing for a virtual option.
Triage alternative to right site of service
Another relatable example occurred just a few day ago. My teenage son suddenly developed cold and flu symptoms and I had a suspicion it was Influenza. The thought of getting him from his bed into urgent care made me shiver – but I could find no alternative options with my health system or insurance plan.
You could argue that influenza could be clinically dangerous – in some cases even leading to death – making telehealth inappropriate. However, I couldn’t help think if we had access to a preliminary virtual screening option, the right level of care (urgent care, home, hospital, or ambulance) could be quickly assessed and we could be triaged and well on our way to healing. Instead, I, as others before me, found myself trying to figure out where to enter the health care system and how to expose the least amount of people to the flu as possible during the process.
Perhaps being a health care consultant for over 20 years with a passion for innovation makes me think about the opportunities a little differently than the average patient, but I know there’s more of us out there putting on our consumer hats and shifting our expectations to systems that give consumers options that align with our lifestyles.
If you are a provider of health care, I would encourage you to explore what telehealth options are available to your consumers today. If you are already on the virtual care journey, do you have a consumer mindset? If you haven’t started on the virtual care pathway, should you?
While telehealth isn’t for all specialties or provider types and there are many variables that impact overall telehealth strategy– there is swelling expectation among patients for greater access to telehealth delivery options across the continuum – and health care consumers like me are shopping for virtually friendly options.
Penny Osmon Bahr is an executive level health care operations professional that works to develop business strategy, navigate regulatory impact, and execute improvement across the health care ecosystem. She brings over 20 years of industry experience and has worked across the continuum with independent physicians practices, accountable care organizations, health systems, and health plans. Penny has strong business acumen and is a thought leader with exceptional communication. She is professionally respected for her broad industry knowledge, leadership, and her ability to convey complex information across all stakeholders.
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