By Dr. Alan Roga, President, Provider Market, Teladoc
People, more than technology, are what make consumer telehealth programs successful. More specifically, success depends on getting medical staff engaged, securing C-level support for the program, and satisfying patients with the right mix of services. Those are some of the key takeaways from a recent survey of health system executives who have consumer telehealth programs in place.[i]
Hospitals that are considering offering consumer telehealth programs can learn from the experience of those that have gone before them. The growing body of knowledge around telehealth is a powerful reason consumer telehealth adoption is accelerating. Approximately 39 percent of U.S. health systems offered patients telehealth programs at the end of 2016, and an additional 37 percent planned to have consumer programs in place in the next 24 months.[ii] That puts hospital adoption on pace to double between 2016 and 2018, when 76 percent of U.S. hospitals expect to have consumer telehealth programs running.
It is true the rapid rise in consumer telehealth services is being helped by better mobile devices, better connectivity and better software, but both current and would-be telehealth users say technology hasn’t been a significant barrier to adoption. The real driver for the accelerating adoption rate is increased understanding of what telehealth can do and the best ways to apply it to meet different clinical and strategic goals. Let’s look at what some of the early leaders have learned.
Millions of people in the U.S. are now enrolled in telehealth programs that are sponsored by their health systems, insurers or employers, and many hospitals have ongoing consumer telehealth programs in place. These users have a very diverse range of use cases, constraints and experiences, yet there was strong consensus on the most important lessons learned cited by health system executives surveyed: the importance of physician buy in, the need to align telehealth programs with organizational objectives, and the importance of securing executive leadership. The top lessons cited by hospitals that are running consumer telehealth programs are presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Top 5 Lessons Learned by Hospitals With Operational Consumer Telehealth Programs
Source: Teladoc-Becker’s Healthcare Hospital & Health Systems 2016 Benchmark Survey: Consumer Telehealth
It is instructive to learn what current telehealth users think is most important to consumer telehealth success and what they consider the most important program goals. Doing so will help organizations that are planning telehealth to design programs that satisfy patients and meet organizational goals. The top four most important elements of a successful consumer telehealth program, according to executives at health systems with experience, are presented in Figure 2 and goals are presented in Figure 3.
Figure 2: Most Important Elements of Consumer Telehealth Programs Cited by Health Systems With Telehealth Programs in Place
Source: Teladoc-Becker’s Healthcare Hospital & Health Systems 2016 Benchmark Survey: Consumer Telehealth
Figure 3: Most Important Consumer Telehealth Goals Cited by Health Systems With Programs in Place
Source: Teladoc-Becker’s Healthcare Hospital & Health Systems 2016 Benchmark Survey: Consumer Telehealth
Note that patient satisfaction is not only by far the most important element of success, it is cited nearly three times more than return on investment (ROI). The difference illustrates a lesson learned that was cited earlier: the importance of aligning telehealth programs to organizational goals. The most important goal — improving care and access to care by making it more convenient for patients — also relates directly to patient satisfaction. A consumer telehealth program that increases patient engagement, expands access to care and results in high patient satisfaction is beneficial for a hospital, but may not be considered successful if ROI was the main driver or metric for success.
Choosing the most appropriate telehealth service offerings, goals, expectations and metrics also requires alignment between hospital executives and the practitioners that will run the program, which relates back to the lessons learned about the importance of alignment and executive buy-in. Telehealth should be viewed as more than a departmental program. It will touch most areas of hospital operations and influence the organization’s reputation among patients and community partners. Therefore, telehealth should be viewed strategically, and that strategy can be informed by the lessons learned from early adopters.
[i] Teladoc-Becker’s Healthcare “Hospital & Health Systems 2016 Benchmark Survey: Consumer Telehealth” April 2017.
[ii] Ibid.
