Telehealth Can Improve Satisfaction — But Only When Implemented With Patients' Needs In Mind

By Mike Baird, MBA

There’s no shortage of news about telehealth’s ability to connect remote patients with highly qualified physicians through super-high-tech videoconferencing equipment.

This is not surprising, considering that telehealth has shown a proven track record of helping to speed up the diagnosis of conditions such as stroke by connecting patients and remote specialty providers.

There’s also a lot of noise about the massive cost-savings potential of telehealth, which isn’t surprising either, as we’re seeing several new reports that highlight the ways telehealth can help a health organization’s bottom line. According to one such report, a March 2017 study from the Rural Broadband Association, telehealth services are associated with an annual per-facility savings of $5,718 in travel expenses, and an annual cost savings of $20,841 for hospitals.

What is surprising is that patient satisfaction is not always one of the first bullet points in lists of telehealth’s benefits, and it doesn’t necessarily come up first in conversations about implementing the technology. But, judging by reports of patients and medical groups who have benefitted from telehealth, it definitely should.

Patient satisfaction ratings often drive a program’s success by helping organizations attract new patients and improving outcomes for existing patients. As such, it should be the first consideration among hospital leaders moving forward with system-wide telehealth implementations.

As we’ve found in working with top tier healthcare systems, the key to leveraging system-wide telehealth is focusing on how technology can improve the patient experience. By putting the patient’s experience first, everything else — from reduced wait times to immediate cost savings and payer buy-in — will follow.

Catering To The Patient Experience

So, what does it mean to focus on the patient experience?

For many of the healthcare organizations we work with, it means considering the end user first before other features (e.g., sophistication of technology), when evaluating technology platforms.

As we noted our 2017 Closing the Telehealth Gap Report, which is based on comprehensive online surveys of more than 800 providers, healthcare executives and consumers undertaken in March 2017, only 18 percent of consumers report that they use telehealth. But the ones who opted to use it suggest it makes their care easier and more convenient. Among telehealth’s benefits, patients cited time savings and convenience (59 percent), faster service and shorter wait times to see the doctor (55 percent), and cost savings due to less travel (43 percent). Better access to specialists was cited by 25 percent of respondents, while 16 percent cited a more comfortable experience, and 16 percent noted the ability to have a longer conversation with a clinician than during an in-person visit.

At our health system partners, doctors are helping patients realize all of these benefits. When the healthcare systems decided to implement an integrated telehealth platform, the technology specifications were a secondary consideration to how their patients interacted with the platform: Would they find the telehealth platform easy to use? Would patients eager to use it? Would they receive faster service than by not using virtual care? Would the faster service make a measurable difference in quality and outcomes?

The ultimate goal for both health systems to build a comprehensive suite of digital health services that would help the right patients get the right doctor at the right time.

At a high level are other incentives for this kind of patient-centered effort. For one, federal and private-payer reimbursement is increasingly tied to patient satisfaction. CMS’ value-based purchasing program has incorporated Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Services (HCAHPS) scores into its payment system. As hospitals are well aware, HCAHPS scores weigh everything from clarity of communication to whether the patient is treated in a quiet environment.

There’s also another financial incentive. Keeping patients happy can help a hospital gain new business, especially when considering patient feedback is easily available online, through sources such as Google reviews. Telehealth is also a key driver for health systems to capture a greater share of wallet in their local markets. Case in point: Customers that use our urgent virtual-care programs find that on average, 70 percent of patients seen via virtual care were “new” patients to the health system.

Creating Patient-Centered Telehealth Programs

In staying mindful of the patient experience, a number of hospitals have found success in taking direct-to-patient approach to telehealth.

New York-Presbyterian, for example, offers a telehealth app that allows for a routine checkup or follow-up from home. Simultaneously, their express-care program allows for secure video conferencing with a doctor within the emergency room setting.

These programs, which run in tandem, are successful because they are highly attuned to patients’ specific needs — and deliver care that in many cases exceeds traditional modalities. The express-care program, which it has utilized for thousands of patients in emergency rooms since its launch in 2016, allows patients to quickly interface with experts via video. When time is of the essence, this can make a major difference in outcomes.

But there are two other aspects to this organization’s program that lend themselves to a highly satisfactory patient experience. Upon admission, patients go into a secluded, quiet room and videoconference with an off-site emergency physician. The quiet atmosphere allows for a much more intimate experience away from the hectic ER environment, which makes patients more comfortable.

Then, there’s the waiting-time savings: Traditionally, it takes two-and-a-half hours from ED admission to discharge for an in-person visit. But now that the express-care program is in full effect, patients are seen by a doctor in 30 minutes. This kind of time savings can make a huge difference. As the Journal of Patient Experience stressed in a 2016 report, based on the study of wait times for more than 3,000 orthopedic hospital patients, by reducing the average time spent in the waiting room by 15 minutes, you can expect to increase overall patient satisfaction. A better patient experience naturally lends itself to a healthier bottom line.

As hospitals move forward in evaluating telehealth platforms, they must consider the extent to which a particular technology solution addresses their business goals, such as improving operational efficiencies. Simultaneously, they must also weigh the patient experience, and ask themselves whether the way they leverage telehealth can help them meet HCAHPS metrics, or boost online ratings. The right vendor partners will be able to tailor system-wide telehealth to the patient experience — which is a win-win for everyone.

About The Author

Mike Baird is the founder and CEO of Avizia, a leading provider of system-wide telehealth.