HLTH 2021: Now is the time to strengthen the foundations for hybrid care success

Experts discussed how hybrid care is making health systems smarter, how telehealth can reduce clinician burnout, and how telehealth adoption can become a staple of healthcare. care. Here are three takeaways from these sessions:

1. Telehealth goes from “if” to “when and how”

“Overall, I think we are witnessing a significant transition on the part of people who are thinking about if telemedicine is for them when and how, and I think it’s a win for everyone, ”Silverman said at a panel titled“ The Future of Healthcare: Moving Towards a Hybrid Care Model ”.

While he acknowledged that integrating change into an existing care ecosystem is complicated, he added that “relentless incrementalism” and meeting with hospitals where they are located will help form lasting partnerships for better implementation. implementing virtual care.

Dr Zenobia Brown, Vice President and Medical Director of Population Health in New York Northwell Health, stressed the importance of linking telehealth to better health outcomes. It is not enough, she said, that a virtual visit has taken place – there must be data to know whether telehealth use has resulted in a drop in readmissions or emergency room visits.

Corn virtual care deployment not just arming clinicians with mobile devices; it is imperative to ensure that a healthcare organization’s infrastructure can handle more than electronic medical record systems.

READ MORE: Find out how healthcare organizations benefit from a virtual healthcare workshop.

“We all thought our networks were really robust because they have their EMRs and they run tons of technology on all of these networks,” said Wendy Deibert, senior vice president of clinical solutions at virtual care platform provider Caregility. “And what we’ve really found is that their networks aren’t ready – they’re not ready for all of this video to go through the system.”

Hospitals also need to consider the user interface, Deibert added. For example, can a patient portal implement single sign-on rather than cumbersome passwords? Is interoperability built in?

Brown also highlighted the importance of multilingual platforms early in adoption. If virtual care is expected to be an effective bridge in bridging care gaps in underserved communities, solutions that have multilingual functionality must be a priority.

“How do you take advantage of new technology with new processes, with better ways to interact with patients that exceed current standards?” ” she asked.

2. Virtual care can help alleviate burnout

Administrative work takes away precious time from doctors to patients. Research found that for every hour of face to face with a patient, physicians spend two hours on administration.

“A doctor doing administrative work, or on the mapping side, is essential for a judge acting as a court reporter or pilot serving drinks in flight,” said Bret Larsen, CEO and co-founder of the care platform virtual eVisit. “It just doesn’t make sense.”