By Karen Minich Pourshadi
Health Leaders Media
Originally published July 19, 2012
Here are some excerpts:
The passing of the years has softened resistance by patients to using this approach. Patients are now willing to forego an in-person visit with the doctor in order to get the care they need swiftly, without having to travel, and in some instances at a lower cost. Moreover, the reimbursement environment is changing. Whereas at one time payers rejected the notion of reimbursing e-health, now more are willing to pay for it. Plus, legislators nationwide are creating state laws requiring payers to reimburse for these services, though in many instances payers are doing so irrespective of mandate.
"Telemedicine can lower healthcare costs by reducing avoidable hospital visits and providing regular access to care in remote parts of the state, and it's more convenient for patients," says Georgia Partnership for TeleHealth CEO Paula Guy. The nonprofit telehealth provider works with more than 350 partners and 175 specialists and other healthcare providers and has handled some 40,000 patient encounters as of 2011.
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GPT has also placed telehealth into nursing homes. In 2011, using telehealth resulted in 160 ED visits being avoided, saving approximately $480,000 in ED cost, Guy says, "In the past, these older patients may have just called for an ambulance when they had a problem. But now patients can be seen by a doctor without an expensive ambulance trip to the ED. Plus they can use it for routine access to care, and by getting that they're less likely to end up in the hospital as frequently," Guy says.
Telehealth visits saved 310 miles and nearly six hours of traveling on average, according to a study by Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a three-hospital system for children and teens. CHA reviewed 609 appointments over a nine-month period and noted that approximately 86% of patients would have missed school and more than 80% of parents would have missed a full day of work to go to the city for an in-office visit, according to data published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Additionally, Guy explains that out of the 40,009 telehealth visits GPT tracked, a random sample showed an average savings of patient travel time of 124 miles per encounter and nearly $762,027 in fuel alone.
The entire article is here.
