The following is a guest article by Bryan Schnepf, Vice President of Marketing at Caregility.
“Meaningful use” punctuated nearly every conference a decade ago in the health tech space. Everyone was focused on adoption, but also the integration of EHR technology into the care delivery workflows. Similar in spirit to the early days of Meaningful Use, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) annual conference held earlier this month in Boston had familiar echoes to that conversation – this time about the meaningful use of telehealth technology in care delivery.
The pandemic undoubtably accelerated adoption of telehealth and telemedicine solutions, but also catalyzed innovation in the space. Telehealth has become top of mind for providers and investors alike, as well as patients now becoming a consumer force in the healthcare conversation. The conference discussions reflected these trends and asked about what’s ahead for the unpredictable – yet optimistic – telehealth marketplace.
With IHI’s introduction of health equity alongside physician engagement as a part of the quintuple aim earlier this year, it wasn’t shocking to witness session topics addressing these trends in greater detail. Notably, reimbursement debates on what’s ahead for telehealth were also top of mind among attendees along with practical questions around physician and clinical team retention amidst “the great resignation” and “the great reshuffling.”
Excitingly, integrated patient experiences were the shining star of the show with connected devices and personalized interfaces living up their potential. This year, it seemed that many companies began to envision immersive, outcomes-oriented patient engagement opportunities to not just enhance acute care, but in fact, improve it. As an example, our Caregility team showcased a theatrically inspired hospital room of the future for attendees to better understand the role of our new solution – Inpatient Virtual Engagement (IVE) – that delivers bedside hybrid care at scale.
This year, the conference sessions challenged attendees to reimagine telehealth beyond the transactional interactions we’ve come to know and expand into hospital at home and remote sessions and emergency triage scenarios. If we think differently about the future of healthcare, what could telehealth look like in support of that world? Coined “hybrid care,” this care delivery model is changing the way organizations are thinking about the role of telehealth as a permanent clinical tool as well as a patient experience modality.
Pressing this idea further, there was some exciting conversations about the role of artificial intelligence in telehealth use cases as well. Some ideas proposed augmenting the telehealth interface with AI-enabled video analysis, some companies are aiming to use AI to pragmatically interpret clinical notes and support clinical documentation, and others suggested AI outright providing the foundation for the patient experience. Some of these ideas might still seem otherworldly, but if ATA proved anything this year, it was that telehealth is here to stay and the future of healthcare is closer than we think.
About Bryan Schnepf
Bryan Schnepf has more than 30 years of experience in healthcare technology, including clinical workflow applications, medical devices, and digital health solutions. As Caregility’s Vice President of Marketing, Bryan directs strategic initiatives aimed and building brand awareness and differentiated positioning of the Company’s unique value proposition. Bryan leads product and solutions marketing, event marketing, content marketing, and industry affiliations.