5 Telehealth Benefits for Physicians

If there is any silver lining to the COVID pandemic, it might be the accelerated adoption of telehealth. Once considered a far-off possibility, telehealth became a right-now reality seemingly overnight, and consumer expectations adapted with the same speed. Today patients enjoy the convenience and efficiency of telehealth and expect their doctor to be as close as their smartphone.

The good news is patients aren’t the only ones experiencing benefits. Physicians are also gaining convenience and efficiency—and even growing their practices—using these new technologies. Here are five key benefits of telehealth for physicians and their clinics, as well as some cutting-edge advancements that will take them to the next level.

Benefit #1: Increased Capacity and Revenue

The first benefit is clinical growth. A physician’s patient capacity has long been limited by physical office constraints and geographic location, but telehealth makes it easy to supplement in-person visits with virtual ones. Virtual visits expand a physician’s reach and make it easier for patients within the clinic’s region, as evidenced by fewer late patients and lower no-show rates. Telehealth visits are also more efficient and more readily available than in-person visits, which keep patients from seeking care elsewhere. Put it all together and physicians have a winning strategy for increased visit volume and revenue.

Next-Level Telehealth: Physicians can partner with a platform that collects payments and bills insurance companies for them.

Patient Benefits: Increased physician capacity means quicker care, less waiting time, and a more consistent provider relationship for patients. Virtual appointment availability also minimizes patient expenses from travel, childcare, and missing work.

Benefit #2: Assessment and Triage

The second telehealth benefit is more efficient patient assessment, which leads to faster and more accurate triage. For instance, pre-appointment questionnaires empower doctors to provide pointed care, and glimpses into a patient’s home via video call provide a deeper understanding of their condition. Additionally, family members are often available for telehealth calls and can offer support and help answer questions. If a video or phone call is insufficient for their condition, telehealth can also reroute patients to the most appropriate care environment before the virtual appointment wastes valuable time and money.

Next-Level Telehealth: Physicians can leverage AI to further streamline patient assessment and evaluate medical symptoms.

Patient Benefits: Pre-appointment assessments result in more personalized services and lower costs. Telehealth visits also improve access to care and reduce unnecessary visits to the emergency room.

Benefit #3: Patient Journey Facilitation

Telehealth’s third benefit is the facilitation of the patient journey. Patients often fall through the cracks when they are left to arrange follow-up care on their own. Studies have shown easy access is key to patient adherence, so telehealth connects patients to labs and specialists before they leave the physician’s office. The same goes for patients who need monitoring. Telehealth keeps patients and physicians engaged in the care journey by creating personalized, case-specific touchpoints and providing a channel for continuing education.

Next-Level Telehealth: Physicians can experiment with providing access to at-home monitoring tools or digital symptom calendars for patients with episodic or chronic conditions.

Patient Benefits: A better patient journey means a higher quality of care, better treatment outcomes, and a higher quality of life.

Benefit #4: Shared Communication Channel

A shared communication channel is the fourth benefit of telehealth. Whether by patient or physician error, important information often gets lost between providers. Telehealth seeks to provide a single source of truth where all providers involved in a patient’s journey can share their notes, test results, and treatment plans. Consulting physicians can even pop in virtually to give second opinions, saving patients an additional call or appointment. This kind of optimized communication leads to faster and more accurate diagnoses.

Next-Level Telehealth: Physicians can take advantage of EHR optimizations, like AI or virtual assistants, to increase the efficiency, accuracy, and speed of clinical communication.

Patient Benefits: A shared communication channel removes the burden of reporting from the patient and contributes to fewer repeat tests, lower costs, and a faster pace of treatment.

Benefit #5: Increased Physician Wellbeing

The fifth benefit is increased physician wellbeing. The COVID pandemic didn’t just advance our adoption of healthcare technology. It also brought issues of physician wellbeing into the public eye. Telehealth solved the immediate need for protecting physicians by providing a physical barrier that allowed care to continue. Moving forward, telehealth can do even more for physicians, like enabling them to take guilt-free vacations and improving work-life balance through workload planning. And studies show telehealth is already working in this direction. A recent survey found 55% of physicians agreed or strongly agreed that telehealth had improved their work satisfaction.

Next-Level Telehealth: Physicians can treat their burnout by working from home part-time or rearranging their schedules to see patients outside of office hours.

Patient Benefits: Increased physician flexibility can better meet patients’ scheduling needs. In addition, a healthy, happy physician provides higher quality care for a longer tenure, benefiting every patient they see and the communities where they work.

Recent years have changed healthcare, but evidence shows the changes are good. Telehealth is often touted as an upgrade for patients, but it has multiple benefits for physicians as well. Telehealth can grow practices, aid in efficiency and communication goals, create a better patient experience, and increase healthcare providers’ wellbeing. After everything we’ve been through, that’s a lot of good news.

P.S. We’ve developed a telehealth solution for ultrasound, called TeleScan, that checks a lot of these boxes. Check it out to see how telesonography® could impact your facility!