It is no secret that telemedicine skyrocketed into our vernacular with wide-sweeping adoption over the past year. Practices and patients alike are already comfortably settling into the “new normal” of telemedicine while utilizing telehealth providers. Plus, national health care offerings like Medicare and Medicaid and private health insurance providers are hopping into action to meet the changing needs of patients. Bisnow’s Kelly Neubauer writes:
“On March 6, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a declaration that Medicare and Medicaid will cover televisits amid the health emergency to allow Americans to visit their doctors without leaving their homes. The measure, which has set a precedent for many private insurers as well, has opened the floodgates for a technological revolution in the healthcare field as virtual care caught on en masse.”
Bisnow, Doctors Embrace Telemedicine
Due to insurance limitations and operational aspects, practices have long been tied solely to in-person visits. This has always proved difficult. However, improvements in legislation and advances in technology such as video infrastructure, online scheduling, HIPAA compliant form submissions of patient health information with online intake forms has ushered in the age of telemedicine. Now with the shift in coverage, medical practices and patients can responsible seek treatment without concern of “but where does the claim go?”
Proof of use is in the numbers.
According to the American Journal of Managed Care, telemedicine insurance claims saw a massive increase of 2,980% between September 2019 and September 2020.
Is telemedicine making physical doctor’s office visits obsolete?
So, what does all this mean for physical space? Read more at Bisnow for office trends and how practices are embracing what is next.
