Telehealth services are changing how healthcare services are delivered in the U.S. and around the world. These can provide immediate interactive access for patients in under-served areas or who have mobility challenges.
Video service provider Vidyo conducts an annual survey of telehealth usage in the U.S. and recently released the report on the 2019 results. They collected responses from nearly 275 clinical and health IT professionals, and found that “remote patient monitoring and telehealth have become key to addressing the strategic objectives for most health systems.”
According to the report, nearly 2 out 3 respondents use remote patient monitoring of some sort. Surprisingly, this was without the use of connected peripherals. More than half of those surveyed used monitoring with acute care patients either with or without peripherals.
Live video was used by 58% of the respondents for virtual visits with patients, and for case collaboration with other healthcare professionals. About 3 out of 5 found remote patient monitoring to be very or extremely advantageous for preventive care management, for chronic health management, and for high-risk patient management.
As the telehealth adoption becomes more widespread, two-thirds of the respondents expect that their organizations’ telehealth budgets will increase over the next three years.
More and more physicians and other healthcare professionals are learning that telehealth services can be effective and efficient. 85% of those surveyed who are not yet using remote patient monitoring or live video expect to do so within the next three years. The technology continues to produce better outcomes and lower healthcare costs.
