Telehealth Unites The Healthcare Ecosystem

By Verizon

Introduction: Delivering Quality Care to All
As we enter the new decade, healthcare for an aging population is a top-of-mind issue for government policy makers, business leaders and consumers alike. Healthcare costs have been steadily increasing, and a growing number of healthcare providers and patients worry that the recent budget crunches faced by healthcare providers will affect patient care in the years ahead. Healthcare providers are taking advantage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funding to launch telehealth initiatives to face down some of healthcare's most daunting challenges.

The Value of Telehealth
Telehealth enables collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem, regardless of where patients and healthcare providers are located. As a result, telehealth delivers several major benefits to healthcare providers. First, clinical specialists can make their services more accessible to a broader audience. They can cost effectively reach more patients virtually anytime, anywhere, which can increase their revenues while helping improve patient care. Additionally, once doctor-patient encounters are concluded, doctors can monitor patient health more closely, enabling faster and more frequent intervention. Benefits also extend across the entire healthcare ecosystem. For example, healthcare providers can increase proficiencies by making it easier to access continued medical education, facilitate professional collaboration, and streamline healthcare administration. They can also more easily collaborate with pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers around R&D and training for new devices and procedures. Moreover, they can join forces with national health agencies and local responders to provide rapid response to public health issues in emergency situations, such as flu outbreaks, terror attacks, and natural disasters.