Our Take on Telemedicine & Telehealth
The digital revolution driving consumerization has caught up to healthcare delivery. According to Pew Research, greater than 60% of households below the poverty level and 65% of baby boomers have smartphones. In the context of meeting the riskiest populations where they are, a shift towards telemedicine and telehealth workflows in HIT as necessities, as opposed to advancements entertained by only a few niche organizations, seems relatively straight forward. Provider and payer organizations are seeing alignment in their missions and the outcome-driven approaches to make the investments too. And consistently, when they’ve done so, the data has demonstrated positive ROI in ways unforeseen.
Chicken or egg? No matter. The sun has risen on this area of tech in HIT. And if your organization is still waiting to take the next step, it’s time to take the leap!
Understand the Basics
Let’s start here: Telemedicine refers to use of visual and voice technologies to facilitate traditional clinical diagnosing and monitoring, whereas Telehealth refers to use of the same technologies for a broader scope of remote healthcare services – diagnosis and monitoring, care management, education, social services, counseling, etc. Slight distinctions, yes. But important nonetheless to facilitate the conversations needed to secure the funding and move the needle at your organization.
Some other lingo you and your team will want to be up to speed on in order to make the most compelling case for the challenges you attempt to solve with telehealth: Synchronous vs. Asynchronous, Facilitated vs. Non-Facilitated, Direct to Consumer, and On-Demand models. The learning curves of these concepts are not steep, but they’ll be new even for those working with Epic for over a decade. At Downshift, we can help educate you and your team on the ins and outs to make sure your baselines and your comprehensive strategic approaches are prepared at every juncture.
Frame the Conversations
It’s important to have a partner with experience in what’s needed to navigate the inter-organizational conversations that very often side-track these types of initiatives. An unprepared approach can introduce setbacks of months, or even years when liaising with your Government Relations, Compliance, and Provider Relations teams. Approaching strategically from the get-go must be a top priority when sharing your telehealth goals and encouraging collaboration.
Consider, for example, framing conversations within the transition to value, about the alignment with mission-driven care, and/or around the positive impact to community members’ lives that inspired those at the table to get into healthcare in the first place. Similarly, appeal to the data-minded stakeholders with stories of improved outcomes related to telehealth initiatives at organizations that have led the charge:
Decreases in ED Visits
Improvements in No Show Rates
Better Management of Provider Schedules (to Serve More Patients)
Reductions in Admissions & Re-admissions
Making Mid-Level Providers More Available to Populations When Needed Most
Look Ahead
There are no shortage of challenges ahead if you are to be the telehealth champion your organization needs. And if moving the needle is the least of your worries, it’s important to be sure you’re seeing the horizon clearly enough to traverse the road ahead. A subset of the areas leading organizations are sharing insights in and Downshift is prepared to pass along so that you can incorporate into your initiatives:
Aligning with Organizational Strategy
Scoping and Budgeting
Technical Architecture and Delivery
Adoption Strategies
Staffing Recommendations
Rollout Planning &
Provider Incentive Alignment
Let’s Go
You see the shifting tides and you can no longer ignore the evidence being shared by your colleagues. The time is now to make the case for these investments, and once on the road to organization-wide telehealth solutions, the excitement around these endeavors will invigorate your teams. Partner with Downshift and we’ll help you to make sure your investment is smart. Your solutions are collaborative. Your approach is thorough. And your patients are more committed to you than ever before. Let’s go!
