Earlier this decade, hospital readmissions had gotten so far out of hand that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) decided to do something about it. In 2012, they – or more specifically, Medicare – began penalizing hospitals for high numbers of patients who ended up back in the hospital within 30 days. It’s a problem that has affected every hospital in the country. Fortunately, telehealth services from Avery Telehealth can help.
Telehealth Services Can Help
As often as the industry talks about penalties, there isn’t much discussion about bonuses, which can also come from CMS. Such bonuses could be realized if more hospitals began employing more telemedicine services – remote monitoring, video visits, scheduling appointments and other self-service portals. Today, patients expect and demand them.
Pandemic Augmented Need for Telehealth Services
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth was already making gains in the healthcare industry and among patients of all ages. Today telehealth services have practically become a way of life as an effective and safer way to deliver care. Some physicians use video calls as their primary means of communication, especially for those with low-risk health issues. Others find telehealth to be a practical and time-saving supplement to current offerings. Either way, telehealth is improving health outcomes across the board.
Millenial Demand for Telehealth Services
We’ve already seen a dramatic rise in the accessibility of ready-care offices that simply weren’t available a decade or two ago. That’s driven the expectancy for greater ease and accessibility for all populations. Now, today’s younger generation will continue to drive the demand for growing telehealth services. They’ve already been vocal about wanting self-service, online appointment scheduling and tele-visits instead of only in-person offerings. Telehealth isn’t perceived as an add-on or a perk, but an expected part of their healthcare requisites – all from the touch of a mobile phone. Make no mistake, if telehealth isn’t readily available, millennials will look for it elsewhere.
Freeing Support Personnel to Assist Elsewhere
When grocery stores implemented self-serve checkouts, it lowered their payrolls and freed employees to assist in other areas of the store. Telehealth services do the same for the healthcare industry. Scheduling personnel can now deal with other matters, nurses can support patients in other ways and doctors save time without moving from office to office.
Telehealth Services Advantages
Aside from the convenience and cost-saving measures, telehealth makes healthcare accessible to everyone. It improves lives for those in remote or rural areas. It helps those with limited access to transportation or health services. It assists less-mobile patients who can’t get to appointments.
Telehealth is the future of healthcare. With each passing day, telemedicine services become more widely used and expected among all generations. Avery Telehealth is proud to be an industry trailblazer who delivers it to clients with tremendous success.
