Maximizing The Potential Of Virtual Care

By Lidia L. Fonseca, SVP and CIO, Quest Diagnostics

Almost daily, there is a new announcement about the next-big-thing that promises to radically improve healthcare. From wearables to Big Data, each new innovation we learn about promises to revolutionize the delivery of health services—and do so for far less money. The practice of good medicine—of identifying what ails a patient and prescribing an effective, cost-efficient treatment—really boils down to harnessing the power of information to make a diagnosis and deliver the right treatment at the right time for each person.

Take, for instance, virtual care. Sometimes referred to as telehealth or telemedicine, virtual care certainly has the potential to radically change the practice of medicine, and in many cases for the better, largely by promoting greater access for people who may otherwise be unable to easily visit a doctor. In addition to linking medically underserved patients with doctors and specialists, virtual care may also help lower costs, by reducing high-priced trips to the emergency room. Not surprisingly, the estimated market for virtual care, which typically involves a virtual or video consultation between a primary healthcare provider and patient, will nearly double in five years in the U.S., ultimately reaching 27 million people, according to an IHS report.

At its core, virtual care is still about a clinician consulting with a patient to understand if something is wrong—that is, to make a diagnosis—and figure out a plan to address identified conditions and manage them. Unlike a video consult, diagnostic testing—which informs many of the healthcare decisions doctors make for patients—can’t be “virtually” conducted. For this reason, virtual care business models must incorporate access to diagnostics providers and technologies to realize more value.

Given this dynamic, any institution that considers offering virtual care should consider a number of steps to maximize the clinical value of their investment:

• Facilitate access to quality diagnostics. If a patient’s condition can’t be diagnosed in a virtual setting, physicians who participate in virtual care communities must be able to easily order appropriate diagnostic tests, direct patients to locally-based participating patient service centers to collect specimens, and refer the specimens to a quality lab provider. To serve this clinical need, Quest Diagnostics recently formed a collaboration with HealthTap, the world’s largest digital health platform. This collaboration will provide access to Quest’s laboratory testing to HealthTap’s network of doctors for patients who seek virtual care. We believe this is the first collaboration of its kind between a major national medical laboratory provider and an end-to-end virtual care company, but it is unlikely to be the last, given the central role of lab testing in medical care.
• Incorporate preventive care into the virtual care model. While chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are largely preventable, they are responsible for up to 7 of every 10 deaths among Americans each year. Part of the problem is that far too many people skip preventive screenings, like hemoglobin A1c blood tests for diabetes, which can detect a health risk before it becomes a serious medical challenge. A patient who logs on for a virtual visit may be focused on an immediate problem, but that does not mean the physician can’t consult with the individual about preventive care while the reason for the initial consult is addressed. Many private health plans and all Marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) cover certain recommended preventive services, a fact not all patients may understand. And CMS now covers virtual annual wellness visits for Medicare beneficiaries. In addition to saving lives, preventive care saves money—up to nearly $4 billion annually, according to some estimates. Incorporating proactive preventive care into virtual care models may reach people who would otherwise fail to consult a physician and hence skip these vital services.
• Use virtual care to engage patients. Our experience at Quest Diagnostics has been that patients are eager to engage in their healthcare. Independent studies confirm this finding, showing that engaged patients typically experience better outcomes, greater satisfaction with the healthcare system and lower costs than those who are not engaged. To promote engagement, patient-physician interaction shouldn’t end with logging out of a virtual consult. Patients should be able to access a summary of their virtual care visit and test results online through their mobile device or personal computer. In the Quest-HealthTap collaboration, patients will have access to test results through the HealthTap portal or via Quest’s myQuest by Care360 patient app. Armed with their health data, patients are better positioned to have a well-informed, ongoing dialogue with a physician, either virtually or in person.

As we hear about the next innovation that promises to revolutionize healthcare, let’s keep in mind that at its core, good medicine requires quality diagnostics. By incorporating diagnostic information and services, virtual care has a powerful opportunity to create a healthier world.

About The Author
By Lidia L. Fonseca, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Quest Diagnostics, the world’s leading provider of diagnostic information services. Quest recently announced a collaboration to provide access to the company’s diagnostic services to consumers and physicians using HealthTap. Quest’s integrated health technology solutions include Care360™ EHR, the MyQuest by Care360™ mobile health app, ChartMaxx® document management solutions, and IntelliTest Analytics™.