The Booming Business of Telemedicine – Online Medical Services

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In 2019, more than 75% of U.S. based hospitals used video to connect with their patients.

Telehealth is a $20+ billion dollar industry
Expected to reach by $186.5 billion in 2026
90% of physicians have experience with remote treatment
77% of physicians want a shift towards telehealth

Telehealth And Telemedicine Are The Future Of Healthcare

Telemedicine: remote clinical services
Telehealth: remote non-clinical services

Telemedicine is used to:
- Diagnose conditions
- Screen symptoms
- Provide mental health services
- Offer low-risk urgent care
- Support nursing home staff
- Deliver specialist consultations

Telehealth is much broader:
- Fulfill medication (telepharmacy)
- Chronic condition support
- Physical & occupational services
- Facilitate provider training, administrative meetings, and con-ed

18% of US GDP is healthcare related
Telehealth increases patient satisfaction & retention by 81.5%
Virtual healthcare has a compound annual growth rate of 4.8%

Telehealth is booming thanks to its many formats.

Types Of Telehealth Platforms

Video calls
Mobile health
Remote patient monitoring (RPM)
Texting services
Emails
Store-and-forward
Phone calls
Software (Nurx, BetterHelp, etc)

Telehealth is less than 100 years old, but is maturing at an unbelievable speed.

A Brief Timeline

1920s: Radio used to give medical advice to ship clinicians
1950s: Closed circuit television systems between hospitals
1960s: Primary & emergency services transmitted via microwave
1970s: Telehealth provided to rural communities in Alaska
1980s: Telehealth offered to countries outside the U.S.
1990s: Videoconferencing for health skyrockets
2000s: Telemedicine used for chronic disease management
2010s: American Telemedicine Association (ATA) grown to 3,100 members
2020s: Veterinarians began offering telehealth services

Telehealth has continued to thrive even through opposing barriers.

The Current State Of Telehealthcare

1,629,000 telehealth visits in the first quarter of 2020
69% of telehealth patients are between 18-49 years old
69% of patients managed their concerns with telehealth guidance during the pandemic

Barriers To Telehealth Are Being Removed

41% of patients have limited access to internet
- Currently being solved with Federal broadband initiatives
Public skepticism
- The majority of studies show patients prefer telehealth over in-person visits
Concerns over misdiagnoses
- Studies show no significant difference between in-person and telehealth diagnoses
Patient privacy
- 66% of adults were concerned about the use of their private medical info
- The same 66% believe privacy should not keep them from using telehealth
- Consumers growing more comfortable with private records in the cloud
Licensing

Recent legislation is allowing telehealth practitioners to reach across state lines

By Innovating Solutions

Holistic Healthcare
- Includes the fields of
  - Cardiology
  - Pulmonolog
  - Endocrinology
Remote clinical tools
- Blood pressure monitor
- Anticoagulation testing
- ECG devices
- 28% of consumer use tech to moderate their health

With New Technology

Apps and smartphone gadgets
- MedWand (diagnostic tool)
- AliveCor (converts phones to electrocardiograms)
- Mental health (Headspace)
Mail in labs
- Allergies
- Food sensitivity
- Genetic testing
- COVID (At-home testing available in 50 states
Wearables
- Sensor embedded clothing
- Smart Watches
- Oncology mHealth wearables

And Helping Those In Need

Programs serve high risk or rural locations
Telehealth initiatives increase healthcare cost parity
Patients save up to 3 hours of time (100 driven miles)
Help control and diagnose low-incidence diseases

“In an age where the average consumer manages nearly all aspects of life online, it’s a no-brainer that healthcare should be just as convenient, accessible, and safe as online banking.” Jonathan Linkous, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association

Telehealth Will Continue To Boom

COVID-19 spurred many to try telehealth for the first time
- 61% of Americans have now had at least one telehealth appointment — a 3X increase since March 2020
Now that they’ve tried it, most Americans want telehealth to continue
- 80% believe telehealth offers the same quality of care as in-person visits — up from 56% before the pandemic
The Benefits Of Telehealth

[Call Out: 82% of Americans say telehealth made it easier to get the care they need]

Convenience: No need take time off work or commute to the doctor’s office
Cost: 31% say their healthcare costs decreased when using telehealth
Comfort: Many feel less anxiety and fear when seeing a doctor remotely

Expanded access to acute care
- 59% of Medicare Patients have access to a laptop
Lowered healthcare costs
- Savings estimates from 17% to 75%
Older population requiring needs-based healthcare
- 22% of the US population will be 65+ in 2050

Patients expect their docs to provide telehealth & digital tools