Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/792660
A S MORE PATIENTS BECOME INTERESTED IN REMOTE VISITS, SOME OBSERVERS SAY TELEMEDICINE IS LOWERING COSTS AND IMPROVING CARE. WHEN PARENTS IN ARK ANSAS receive a ca ll from school informing them their chi ld is i l l, t he ca l l may come w it h a rea dy d ia g nosis a nd, i f necessa r y, a prescr ipt ion . T hat 's because recent leg i s l at ion a l low s ch i ld ren t o see a physicia n v ia teleconference in their school nurse's off ice. Telepediatricians with A rka nsas Children's Hospita l ca n diag nose ra shes, colds, ea r infections a nd other common a ilments. That is just one exa mple of the grow- ing ava i labi lit y of a nd investment in telemedicine. According to a sur vey from g loba l ma na gement consu lting firm Oliver Wyman, by late 2015, 57 per- cent of consumers were fa milia r with the concept of a hea lth and wellness visit conducted remotely v ia phone, voice chat or video chat — up from 43 percent in 2013. Resea rch from t he Nationa l Business Group on Hea lth found that 9 0 perc ent of employer s w i l l m a ke telehea lth ser vices ava ilable in states where it is a llowed, a nd it is expected that vir tua lly a ll la rge employers will offer telehea lth by 2020. Patients' willing ness to receive ca re in new ways, such a s telehea lth, is no lon ger a m at t er of c onje c t u re, s ay s Gr a ega r Sm it h , P r i ncipa l i n Ol iver W y m a n 's H e a l t h & L i f e S c i e n c e s Practice a nd lead author of the repor t. "Consumers have spoken; t he new front door is here," Smith stated in a news release about the sur vey f indings. "It's up to hea lthcare providers, insurers and retailers to build it in a way that has mea ning, impact a nd va lue." IMPROVING PRIMARY CARE T h e O l i v e r W y m a n s u r v e y f o u n d patients desire vir tua l ca re for a wide ra n ge of pr i ma r y ca re needs, w it h a qua r ter of patients willing to seek diet, nutrition, f itness and well-being advice via telemedicine. The Clickwell Care model at Stanford Medicine was implemented as a way to reach the 20 percent of patients who h a d no c ont a c t w it h t hei r pr i m a r y ca re prov ider. A yea r a f ter Sta n ford Medicine expa nded hours at a conven- tiona l u rgent ca re center a nd a dded virtua l visit functiona lity and wellness coaching, approximately three-f if ths of the clinic's v isits during that time period had ta ken place vir tua lly rather tha n in person. Additiona lly, the cost of t he v i r t ua l cl i n ic wa s 30 percent lower tha n compa rable in-person clin- ics — in part because of reduced staffing needs. A ssessing Sta nford's initiative, Advisor y Boa rd, a best-practices f irm, found patients in t he v ir t ua l set ting achieved weight loss goa ls 78 percent Applications for Remote Care Continue to Expand BY MELISSA MOORE TELEMEDICINE UNBOUND: 1 4