providers are constantly looking for better ways to provide healthcare services to patients.

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Telemedicine is the current trending source of providing healthcare services to remote locations. Despite busy schedules, lack of accessibility, and low availability of healthcare, anyone can get high-quality healthcare services through the telemedicine platform. So,

What is telemedicine? And what are the countless benefits of telemedicine?

This article has a detailed introduction to telemedicine to understand its various aspects. Let’s dive in.
Contents: 1. What is Telemedicine? 2. What are the three types of telemedicine?
How Telemedicine can help people?
How to implement telemedicine in your healthcare organization
Problems with telemedicine

How telemedicine is used by healthcare professionals
How telemedicine helps patients

The Takeaway

1. What is Telemedicine?
Over the past three decades, researchers, clinicians, and health experts have laid a great emphasis on the integration of telecommunications and advancing technology for the betterment of healthcare facilities. Telemedicine is a successful innovation of the modern era by using information technology.

Introduction to telemedicine

Telemedicine is an umbrella term encompassing many technologies and applications currently being used to promote public research and the advancement of medical services and facilities. Telemedicine’s definition often gets confused with telehealth as both the terms are often used interchangeably, but telemedicine is different from telehealth.

Telemedicine definition and background

Telemedicine can be defined as communication and information technologies to provide standard health care to distant participants.

However, this term is not new; the background of telemedicine comes from the early 20th century. Around the 1960s, telephones were being used by healthcare professionals to guide and give health advice to patients.

With the advancement of telecommunications, telemedicine also adapted new technologies, devices, and methods. Telemedicine is sometimes also referred to as ‘digital practice’ in the current era. Today the spectrum of telemedicine is vast, including video conferencing, audio calls, and various other data transmission technologies.

There has been a rapid hike in the telemedicine stocks price in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic has propagated telemedicine to new heights. As a result, a large population of the United States is shifting to virtual telemedicine services replacing health care visits.

What are the telemedicine regulations by the state?

The United States of America does not provide a standardized license that could work for the health professionals throughout the country hence why each state has its regulations and licensure processes for telemedicine. Therefore, a physician can only get a permit for practice issued for that particular state.

Telemedicine regulations by the state were established back in 2014 when the Federation of State Medical Boards passed the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to help facilitate medical practitioners with their interstate practice. A physician can apply for a medical license to practice telemedicine in their home state for practicing in another state. The verification from the home state is a big go-ahead.

However, the telemedicine regulation by the state has been significantly eased in the CoronaVirus pandemic. Currently, many conditions permit emergency licenses to physicians licensed in other states who may assist with this health emergency.

Are telemedicine and e-health similar?

E-health is an umbrella term representing the entire health industry and is considered equivalent to e-commerce involving telematics and medical informatics, whereas telemedicine is just a market niche. E-health is broader and more directed towards the business side, while telemedicine provides healthcare facilities to distant participants. Telemedicine and e-health are sometimes used interchangeably, but both terms represent different meanings and goals.

2. What are the three types of telemedicine?
The introduction of telemedicine in the health industry has positively influenced healthcare quality, reliability, and availability for people living in distant locations. In general, telemedicine is categorized into three types further associated with sub-types.

The three main types of telemedicine are as follows,

Store-and-forward: In this type of telemedicine, the patient does not have to meet the practitioner; instead, all the medical documents such as medical reports, images, lab data can be transferred to the specialist.
Remote monitoring: Other names for remote monitoring are ‘self-monitoring’ and ‘ self-testing. In this type of telemedicine, different technological devices are used to monitor the patient’s health status and clinical signs.
Real-time interactive service: This type of telemedicine is an interactive service that provides immediate advice and medical attention to patients.
There are many subtypes of real-time interactive services, such as; telenursing, telepharmacy, and telerehabilitation.

Telenursing refers to the promotion of nursing services through telecommunication technology.

Telepharmacy gives patients pharmaceutical advice through digital channels such as online appointments through websites, live chats, and apps when getting in contact with pharmacists is impossible. Similarly, telerehabilitation refers to providing rehabilitation consultation and advice through online communication channels.

The introduction of telemedicine to the health industry has turned out to be a successful step in enhancing the accessibility of healthcare services to people who have a limited approach to direct healthcare visits and facilities.

3. How Telemedicine can help people?

The idea of telemedicine is to overcome the barriers associated with healthcare delivery and develop equity and welfare for everyone to receive necessary healthcare resources and intervention.

The background of telemedicine and the current data suggests that telemedicine has been convenient both from the patient and health profes’[sional’s aspect,

a)How telemedicine is used by healthcare professionals

Healthcare professionals are using telemedicine for various clinical and non-clinical purposes.

Clinical uses of telemedicine by healthcare professionals

The clinical uses of telemedicine by healthcare professionals are as follows;

The professionals extensively use telemedicine for the evaluation, urgent care, and management of patients who might need transfers, decisions, and quick responses.
Healthcare professionals who cannot reach their patients use telemedicine for supervision and providing primary care and can also give prescriptions. For example, mental health experts can prescribe ADHD telemedicine Adderall to people dealing with ADHD through online consultations.
Health care professionals are actively using telemedicine to promote good health and wellness. For example, people struggling with obesity can contact a telemedicine doctor for a phentermine prescription or advice.
Professionals use telemedicine to track the provisions of treatment, symptoms, and progress of their patients over time.
Healthcare professionals widely conduct the follow-up care and supervision of patients with chronic health ailments and their regular status tracking.
Telemedicine appointment is very easily delivered to the patients hence why healthcare professionals can carry their sessions with their patients more frequently and stay updated with their progress.
Telemedicine urgent care for patients with immediate care or emergency care is being used by professionals and specialists who are not available at the moment.
Telemedicine is not just limited to treating humans; vet telemedicine has also advanced in the past year, offering many healthcare services to pets.

Non-Clinical uses of telemedicine by healthcare professionals

The non-clinical uses of telemedicine by healthcare professionals are as follows:

Telemedicine is a significant source of education for distant patients and is considered one of the most excellent tools for patient education.
Nowadays, health professionals use telemedicine to supervise, research, and expand healthcare networks.
Telemedicine is an intelligent way to manage patient databases, records, listings, and overall monetizing of the healthcare system.

Telemedicine benefits are far beyond the efficiency and convenience of professionals. In actuality, telemedicine benefits are fully enjoyed by the patients;

b) How telemedicine helps patients

The telemedicine benefits for patients are as follows;

Telemedicine has made healthcare possible for patients in remote locations.
Patients find telemedicine very accessible and more effortless than clinical visits without facing the struggles of the time, traveling, and long waiting room hours.
Patients that are either bedridden or disabled and traveling to their therapist becomes tantalizing. Telemedicine is the perfect solution for patients who have mobility restrictions or are ill to travel.
Telemedicine increases the autonomy of self-management and online self-monitoring.
Scheduling therapy online via telemedicine is extremely convenient. Patients can schedule their online sessions according to their ease.
Telemedicine gives every resident an equal opportunity to utilize public resources despite societal, financial, and mobility barriers.
Patients do not have to rely entirely on the medical system. Instead, telemedicine benefits for patients help secure privacy and self-esteem for patients who are less confident in getting into the process of medical check-ups, especially for patients with mental health issues.
Digital connection of patients with their therapists through telemedicine has shown increased encouragement in patients to get help for their mental health issues from their homes.
Post-surgical patients and those requiring rehabilitation have better health outcomes while receiving their treatment plan at home via telemedicine. The home environment seems to positively impact the patient’s minds compared to the hospital environment.

Online doctor visits and telecommunication for health care services are becoming more and more popular for many other reasons. Telemedicine benefits are not just limited to accessibility and ease. The most critical question regarding telemedicine is;

Is telemedicine covered by insurance?

Insurance coverage of telemedicine is one of the biggest concerns for patients regarding billings and copays. The great thing about telemedicine is that many insurance companies cover telemedicine, including Medicare.

Next,

4. How to implement telemedicine in your healthcare organization?

The American telemedicine association was established in 1993 as a non-profit organization with a clear vision of promoting health benefits; today, many health care organizations are using telemedicine for various health benefits throughout the United States of America.

Various healthcare organizations are using telemedicine; here is a list of top U.S healthcare organizations successfully using telemedicine in their business;

Telemedicine for the treatment of chronic medical issues

Telemedicine urgent care services are used by many health care organizations such as ‘Sesame Care,’ which offers healthcare services via telemedicine regarding chronic health issues including; skin, dental, mental health, diabetes, and sleep care. You can even book a same-day telemedicine appointment, and the prices are affordable.

‘PlushCare’ is another healthcare organization offering same-day telemedicine appointments for various health issues. The organization is even offering refills on common prescriptions, excluding controlled substances. You can get a monthly membership which also has coverage for health insurance.

Telemedicine for the treatment of mental health issues

‘Medvidi’ is one of America’s leading telemedicine providers in the area of mental health issues. Medvidi has successfully utilized this user-friendly technology to increase access to high-quality mental healthcare services to individuals suffering from mental health issues, including; ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Other areas of Medvidi telehealth services include:

Insomnia treatment
OCD treatment
Weight loss management
Panic attacks and phobias
Chronic fatigue syndrome
ESA Letter

Medvidi telemedicine services reduce the cost and availability of mental health experts for patients. It offers the following best-quality telemedicine mental health services:

Effective treatment plans
Mental health therapies
Prescription drugs and refills
Counseling sessions
Meditation guides
Lifestyle modifications advice

Medvidi is embedded to provide a seamless patient experience through virtual engagements making it a top-rated client service telemedicine platform.

Telemedicine for the treatment of nonemergency medical issues and pediatrics

‘Teladoc’ is one of the first telemedicine providers in America. The company provides various services such as;

Dermatological issues
Nonemergency medical conditions
Pediatric medical services
Sexual health consultations
Mental health consultations

Teladoc also gives you many other services, including providing prescriptions, insurance coverage, and analyzing lab reports.

Telemedicine for lab test analysis and prescription

As discussed above, health organizations such as ‘Teladoc’ offer patients services such as prescriptions and lab test analysis. In addition, various other health organizations in the United States offer lab test analysis and medications to patients via telemedicine technologies.

One of the most significant examples of the organization using a telemedicine platform to deliver health services is ‘MeMD.’ The process of getting telemedicine services is simple. You just have to create your account on the MeMD website, and once your account gets activated, you can talk to any nurse or doctor practitioner. MeMD also offers telemedicine urgent care services to patients.

Telemedicine for consultations and counseling

Health care organizations such as ‘iCliniq’ use telemedicine to provide consultation services across the country. You can either post a question, have a phone consultation, or you can even go for an online video option.

Telemedicine for general care through a mobile app

The famous company ‘Amwell,’ founded by two brothers who are doctors by profession, is offering its telemedicine service for general health care management through its mobile application. The application is compatible with both iPhone and Android.

Vet telemedicine services

There are numerous health care organizations for animals offering vet telemedicine services, including:

Televet
Chewy
Pawp
Virtuwoof

All these vet telemedicine organizations offer various urgent care, emergency, general care, consultation, and prescription facilities in the United States.

The 2010 Affordable Healthcare Act is a good start at fixing America’s healthcare costs and other problems, however much more needs to be done. This article addresses the key problems and what needs to be done to fix the problems.

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To many Americans the healthcare system is broken and in major need of overhaul. The good news is that the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010 addresses many of America’s healthcare problems. The bad news is that significant parts of the new healthcare law will phase in over the next three years rather than immediately, with all legislated changes scheduled to be implemented by 2014. Additional bad news is that significant problems with the American healthcare system are not covered in the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

In the year 1900 agriculture represented two thirds of the American economy. Today agriculture accounts for less than 3% of the U.S. economy. There have been huge advances based on research, technology, farm management and agricultural practices. Farms on average are much larger. In 1900 no one could have comprehended or predicted the changes that would happen in agriculture. The same level of change is needed in healthcare, but it needs to be accomplished in 10 years or less. President Kennedy challenged America to put a person on the moon within a decade and we did it. The same type of challenge and mobilization is needed in healthcare reform now.

Republicans fought passage of the law every step of the way and Democrats avoided many key provisions in the hope of getting a few Republicans in the Senate to support the bill in order to get it passed into law. The result is a less than perfect partial solution to a large-scale set of problems.

The Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010 is primarily health insurance reform legislation. The passage of this legislation was highly controversial. The new healthcare law addresses many issues that required attention for decades. There are parts of the law that can and should be improved on and there are many healthcare issues that still need to be addressed, especially dealing with the quality and cost of healthcare.

The Key Problems with the American Healthcare System

Following is a summary of many of the key problems facing the American healthcare system

1 – Healthcare costs represent over 17% of the American GNP and they are increasing significantly every year. On a per capita basis the U.S. pays significantly more for healthcare than any other country and it is hurting our economic competitiveness in world markets. Although America pays more for healthcare than other countries, our overall health and life expectancy is lower than many other countries. This alone is cause for concern and a wake-up call for action.

2 – Healthcare is too costly for businesses and consumers. For many employers and their employees, annual increases in health insurance costs have averaged 15% – 25% and more over the last few years due to actual increases in medical costs as well as insurance companies increasing premiums in anticipation of the healthcare legislation. The Affordable Healthcare Act partially addresses cost issues according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget office and most Congressional Democrats, yet Congressional Republicans say otherwise.

3 – Most people have an opinion about the new healthcare law and many strongly support or oppose it, yet few people know what the law includes and why they should support or oppose the law.

4 – While Republicans are trying to repeal the new healthcare law, there is no chance they will be successful. They cannot get 60 votes in the Senate to support repeal the healthcare law and if they could President Obama would certainly veto repeal.

5 – Hundreds of thousands of people work in insurance companies administering healthcare, however none of them actually provides healthcare services. This is a huge overhead cost to the healthcare system.

6 – Countless people work in doctors’ offices and hospitals handling medical records, billing, patient scheduling, insurance forms and other paperwork using inefficient, error prone paper and partially automated processes.

7 – The U.S. has the best healthcare in the world for those that can afford it, yet millions of Americans get little or no healthcare.

8 – Americans spend billions of dollars every year on a myriad of diet plans, yet the average weight of Americans increases every year, resulting in epidemic levels of diabetes, coronary and other diseases and medical conditions. Millions more continue to smoke, use dangerous illegal drugs and follow unhealthy lifestyles. All of this is driving up healthcare costs.

9 – Medication developed and manufactured by American pharmaceutical companies is priced significantly lower in other countries than in the U.S.

10 – Healthcare quality is a very significant problem. Medical errors made by medical professionals including doctors, nurses and others are one of the leading causes of death and injury in the U.S. every year. In many cases, medical and cleanliness best practices are established but not followed.

11 – Medical malpractice insurance costs are too high due to medical errors, however if you or a family member is injured or dies due to medical errors, are you ready to have your right to legal recourse limited?

12 – With the exception of health insurance, Americans can buy almost anything across state lines. We travel extensively and often require healthcare away from our home state and we may need to travel out of state to get appropriate healthcare. Why not create competition by enabling health insurance companies to sell health insurance nationwide.

13 – There are too many health insurance options, making the selection of health insurance very costly. Why not simplify the policy choices and enable consumers to purchase health insurance online, significantly reducing health insurance sales costs?

14 -Millions of unmarried heterosexual couples in long-term relationships can’t include their partner in their health insurance plan.

15 – Countless families have been wiped out financially due to serious illnesses either not covered or insufficiently covered by medical insurance, or because they could not get health insurance.

16 – Pharmaceutical advertising adds considerably to the cost of drugs. Advertising also significantly increases usage of pharmaceuticals as consumers learn about and push their doctors to prescribe medications that sometimes are not needed or appropriate.

17 – There have been wonderful improvements in medical diagnostic, operating room and other medical equipment in recent years, as well as important advances in pharmaceutical drugs. These advances are very costly and are at times being used beyond their appropriate need. Valid and unnecessary use of advanced medical tests and pharmaceutical products is helping to drive healthcare costs higher.

18 – In employee surveys (employee satisfaction surveys, employee opinion surveys and employee benefits surveys) employees are asked their opinions about and satisfaction with employee benefits they receive from their employer. Most employees across many industries are saying their health insurance costs are escalating much too quickly while their coverage is being cut back. Some employees are commenting in their survey responses that they are opting out of healthcare insurance because they can’t afford it.

Concluding Thoughts

The Affordable Healthcare Act addresses some of the above and other problems, however there is much the new law does not address, or that is inadequately addressed.

Congress still has much to do regarding healthcare. Are they up to the challenge, or will Republicans continue to obstruct progress? Will Democrats support important issues that Republicans want to include in any new or revised healthcare legislation?

Today, as this article is being written, former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist came out openly supporting the Affordable Healthcare Act, openly challenging current Republican Congressional leaders and members. Bill Frist is a highly accomplished medical doctor. His strong preference is to keep the Affordable Healthcare Act and to enhance it to further address cost, quality, and other key issues. Hopefully Republicans in Congress will get Bill Frist’s message.

Beyond the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes significant money in support of improving and streamlining the healthcare system including $25.8 billion for health information technology investments and incentive payments along with $10 billion for health research and construction of National Institutes of Health facilities.

As Americans are learning more about the actual provisions of the new healthcare law, the polls indicate they are becoming more supportive of it. Unfortunately millions of Americans were against the Affordable Healthcare Act due to misinformation and lies about the new law that was continuously spewed by Republican politicians and lobbyists.

The Challenge

– Are there new models of healthcare that will provide better healthcare at significantly lower cost?

– Should the Cleveland and Mayo Clinics serve as a model for providing healthcare excellence?

– Would a single payer approach to healthcare insurance bend the healthcare cost curve significantly downward?

– Should hospitals and doctors be paid at least partially based on keeping patients healthy rather than being paid only for treating medical problems?

– Should healthcare professionals practice more preventive medicine and less reactive medicine?

– Can Americans become more responsible for their own health, improving their diet, increasing exercise, losing weight, avoiding illegal drugs and excessive alcohol, and going to and listening to their doctor when they need to?

– Can doctors, nurses and other medical professionals learn and follow best practices in order to significantly lower medical errors?

– When will Americans be able to purchase health insurance across state lines?

– Will medical records be automated as called for in the Affordable Healthcare Act?

– Should pharmaceutical companies stop relying on Americans to subsidize costly development of new drugs by paying significantly higher prices for the same drugs sold in other countries at much lower prices?

– Should pharmaceutical companies stop advertising their drugs to the population overall, instead educating doctors about drugs and relying on doctors to prescribe appropriate medicines?

– Should there be a single carefully regulated and administered website that provides consumers with information about the performance of hospitals and doctors?

– When will unmarried heterosexual couples in long-term relationships be able to include their partner on their health insurance plan?

– Are too many costly diagnostic tests being performed and too many drugs being prescribed?

– On average, are doctors spending enough time with patients?

– When will American citizens have more influence with Congress than special interest groups and industry lobbyists?

Health systems often require tweaking, fine-tuning, and even reconstruction.

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GENERAL
Healthcare legislation in countries in transition, emerging economies, and developing countries should permit – and use economic incentives to encourage – a structural reform of the sector, including its partial privatization.

KEY ISSUES

· Universal healthcare vs. selective provision, coverage, and delivery (for instance, means-tested, or demographically-adjusted)

· Health Insurance Fund: Internal, streamlined market vs. external market competition

· Centralized system – or devolved? The role of local government in healthcare.

· Ministry of Health: Stewardship or Micromanagement?

· Customer (Patient) as Stakeholder

· Imbalances: overstaffing (MDs), understaffing (nurses), geographical distribution (rural vs. urban), service type (overuse of secondary and tertiary healthcare vs. primary healthcare)

AIMS

· To amend existing laws and introduce new legislation to allow for changes to take place.

· To effect a transition from individualized medicine to population medicine, with an emphasis on the overall welfare and needs of the community

Hopefully, the new legal environment will:

· Foster entrepreneurship;

· Alter patterns of purchasing, provision, and contracting;

· Introduce constructive competition into the marketplace;

· Prevent market failures;

· Transform healthcare from an under-financed and under-invested public good into a thriving sector with (more) satisfied customers and (more) profitable providers.

· Transition to Patient-centred care: respect for patients’ values, preferences, and expressed needs in regard to coordination and integration of care, information, communication and education, physical comfort, emotional support and alleviation of fear and anxiety, involvement of family and friends, transition and continuity.

The Law and regulatory framework should explicitly allow for the following:

I. PURCHASING and PURCHASERS

(I1) Private health insurance plans (Germany, CzechRepublic, Netherlands), including franchises of overseas insurance plans, subject to rigorous procedures of inspection and to satisfying financial and governance requirements. Insured/beneficiaries will have the right to apply contributions to chosen purchaser and to switch insurers annually.

Private healthcare plans can be established by large firms; guilds (chambers of commerce and other professional or sectoral associations); and regions (see the subchapter on devolution under VI. Stewardship).

Private insurers: must provide universal coverage; offer similar care packages; apply the same rate of premium, unrelated to the risk of the subscriber; cannot turn applicants down; must adhere to national-level rules about packages and co-payments; compete on equality and efficiency standards.

(I11) Breakup of statutory Health Insurance Fund to 2-3 competing insurance plans (possibly on a regional basis, as is the case in France) on equal footing with private entrants.

Regional funds will be responsible for purchasing health services (including from hospitals) and making payments to providers. They will be not-for-profit organizations with their own boards and managerial autonomy.

(I12) Board of directors and supervisory boards of health insurance funds to include:

– Two non-executive, lay (not from the medical professions and not politicians) members of the public. These will represent the patients and will be elected by a Council of the Insured, (as is the practice in the Netherlands)

– Municipal representatives;

– Representatives of stakeholders (doctors, nurses, employees of the funds, etc.).

(I13) The funds will be granted autonomy regarding matters of human resources (personnel hiring and firing); budgeting; financial incentives (bonuses and penalties); and contracting.

The funds will be bound by rules of public disclosure about what services were purchased from which providers and at what cost.

Citizen juries and citizen panels will be used to assist with rationing and priority-setting decisions (United Kingdom).

(I2) Procurement of medicines to be done by an autonomous central purchasing agency, supervised by a public committee (drug regulatory authority) aided by outside auditors.

All procurement of drugs and medications will be done via international tenders.

The agency will submit its reimbursement rates for drugs on the PLD to external audit in order to accurately reflect pharmacists’ overhead costs. At the same time, the profit margins on all drugs, whether on the PLD or not, will be regulated.

This agency should be separate from the Health Insurance Fund and the Ministry of Health. This agency will also maintain national drug registries. It will secure volume discounts for bulk purchasing and transparent, arm’s-length pricing.

(I21) Use of reference prices for medicines. If the actual price exceeds the reference price, the price difference has to be met by the patient.

(I3) The Approved (Positive) List of Medicines will be recomposed to include generic drugs whenever possible and to exclude expensive brands where generics exist. This should be a requirement in the law. Separately, an Essential Drug List will be drawn up.

(I31) Encourage rational drug prescribing by instituting a mixture of GP and PHC incentives and penalties, or a fundholding system: budgets will be allocated to each GP for the purchase of drugs and medications. If the GP exceeds his/her budget, s/he is penalized. The GP gets to keep a percentage of budget savings. Prescription decisions will be medically reviewed to avoid under-provision.

(I4) Payments and Contracting

Payment to providers should combine, in a mixed formula:

BLOCK CONTRACTS

Capitation – A fixed fee for a list of services to be provided to a single patient in a given period, payable even if the services were not consumed, adjusted for the patients’ demographic data and reimbursement for fee-for-service items.

Inflation-adjusted Global budgeting (hospitals) and block (lump sum) grants (municipalities)

COST and VOLUME CONTRACTS

Provide incentives and reward marketing efforts which result in an increase in
demand/referral beyond the limit set in a block contract.

COST PER CASE CONTRACTS

Apply Diagnosis Related Group (DRG)/ Resource-based Relative Value (RBRV) / Patient Management Categories (PMCs) / Disease Staging/Clinical Pathways

Levels of reimbursement, case-mix adjusted to be decided by external auditors.

Contracts with providers should include:

· Waiting Times Guarantee

· Single Contact Person(“Case Officer”) for the duration of a stay at the hospital

· Hospital benchmarking (individual-level data on costs, diagnoses, and procedures during entire case episodes: inpatient admissions and outpatient visits; cost-effectiveness of services.

· Performance targets in performance agreements with all healthcare facilities, both public and private.

· All payments – wages included – will be tied to these targets and their attainment as well as to healthcare quality as determined by objective measures (internal, external, and functional benchmarking), clinical audits (sampling), as well as customer satisfaction surveys and interviews and discussions with patients.

· Provider and Staff Bonuses and penalties tied to exceeding/under-performing targets and contract variance

· Patients’ rights, including their rights to litigate

Selective contracting will be allowed on all levels (including specialist ambulatory care and hospitals), although all providers, private and public, will be permitted to apply for contracts with health funds and insurers. The funds will choose from among private providers either following a process of deliberation, or via an auction, or public tender (United Kingdom).

(I5) Commissioning preference will be given to the purchase of Primary Healthcare over secondary, or tertiary Healthcare.

What a Recession Could Mean for Healthcare

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It’s looming, in the coming months or next year, many financial experts foresee an inevitable recession in the United States and elsewhere. A large downturn in the economy will adversely affect the aspect of most people’s lives. Their finances, lifestyle and healthcare. Initially, the effect(s) of a recession on the healthcare sector may not be obvious. Healthcare organizations don’t always take into consideration how an economic downturn is likely to affect them financially.

How a Recession Affects Healthcare Providers
In 2008-2009, there was a recession in the United States. The effect of this recession on the healthcare sector provides an indicator of how a future recession will affect healthcare providers. Though the exact impact of a recession may vary, the information listed below, provides a guideline on what should be expected. The list is not entirely comprehensive, yet most healthcare providers should find it useful.

Reduction in Healthcare Workers
There already is a shortage of trained and experienced staff for many specialized healthcare and medical treatments. Industry experts and healthcare organizations predict a major shortage of qualified doctors and support staff (such as nurses) in the next few years. This problem is usually resolved using temporary or locum tenens staff. However, during a recession, the demand for temporary healthcare staff is likely to reduce, due to the decline of those patients seeking specialized healthcare.

At present, there is a shortage of clinicians for emergency room work, primary care physicians, specialists in behavioral health and professionals for treating addictions. Similarly, there is a shortage of trained staff who provide direct care. Due to the high demand for direct care, the number of service providers are less than the number of qualified staff.

Oddly enough and during the recession a decade ago, healthcare organizations reported that the number of nurses offering their services had increased in some regions in the United States. This was partly attributed to the fact that some nurses who had earlier retired, took up jobs again. In other cases, nurses postponed the date of their retirement, while nurses who were only working part time, started looking for full-time jobs. The increase in nurse workforce helped alleviate the shortage.

Reduction in Demand for Specific Healthcare Services
There are additional economic factors which are likely reduce the demand for healthcare professionals, which includes nurses. During a recession, people have less money and naturally postpone medical treatment to reduce their expenses. The American Academy of Family Physicians (abbreviated as AAFP) had conducted a survey during the recession. They found that families with limited funds spent their money on essentials and other than medical and were forced to reduce the healthcare services which they previously used.

Despite the economic downturn, human beings still require medical treatment for serious health problems and diseases. However, to save money, they avoid taking medical help for health conditions which do not pose a threat to their life and other minor ailments. Analyzing the data available on hospital admissions and optional surgeries confirms this trend.

Research conducted in 2013, on medical data during a severe economic recession, indicates that many people will delay expensive and optional surgical procedures. This decision is likely to financially affect surgeons, hospitals specializing in surgery and major healthcare providers and systems. Statistical data indicates that during the recession between 2009 and 2011, a typical hospital with 300 beds experienced a decline of approximately $3.7 million in medical billing. This was mainly because patients who otherwise used commercial insurance, were either unemployed or underemployed, making less money.

It’s widely believed that the manner in which healthcare consumers spent their money during the recession, permanently altered the healthcare sector. To deal with the decline in spending, healthcare providers increasingly focused on expanding options for outpatient care. When compared to the cost of conventional hospital admission (inpatient) and patient care, usually outpatient services are inexpensive and affordable.

The aforementioned survey of the AAFP noted the following healthcare trends during the recession:

the number of patients with major symptoms of stress increased
many patients were concerned whether they had sufficient funds to pay for their healthcare expenses
the number of appointments which were cancelled by patients increased
there was a decrease in the number of patients who were insured by their employer or privately
since patients did not undertake preventive healthcare recommended to reduce expenses, some patients developed new ailments and health complications
The Complex Relationship between the Economy and Healthcare
The United States economy determines the complicated correlation between employment rates, health insurance coverage, medical expenses and a patient’s access to quality healthcare. Many factors, some of which are unknown, can determine the effectiveness of healthcare and the cost. The financial incentives for a medical practitioner, hospital or other healthcare organization may match or in some cases, conflict with the patient’s requirement for healthcare. During a recession, patients are likely to postpone medical treatments which are unurgent. This adversely affects the revenue of the healthcare sector.

Additional financial problems are faced by healthcare providers, since the number of patients who do not pay medical expenses increased for services received. This forces the healthcare provider to either write off the amount, or include it in the payments due. Donations from charities and funding from government agencies locally, at the state or federal level, may also decrease, adversely affecting hospitals and smaller healthcare providers.

Experts believe that a recession is unlikely to have a major impact on healthcare in the country. The healthcare sector is likely to become more grow (yet become more consolidated), although technology affects direction and speed of changes.

The healthcare mobile app trends indicate the need for innovation in healthcare, a new way to cope with the changing demand and reality. Thanks to the advent of the latest technologies that help health tech companies meet those demands

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It requires significant levels of effort to develop a healthcare mobile app that people will download, install, and recommend. The app stores are full of apps that don’t bring any value to the users. As a result, those apps don’t get the fame they were intended to. To stay ahead of the competitor’s apps, healthcare mobile app developers should track what the users expect from a healthcare app. One of the most effective ways to do this is to be aware of healthcare mobile app trends for 2021.

With the consistent evolution of modern-day digital technologies, mobile apps have become an inseparable part of our lives. Hence, it isn’t surprising that mobile apps are also used in the healthcare sector. The main drivers of mobile app adoption in healthcare are the rise in lifestyle disease rates, growing awareness of mobile medicine, and rapid advances in mobile technologies.

The healthcare mobile app trends indicate the need for innovation in healthcare, a new way to cope with the changing demand and reality. Thanks to the advent of the latest technologies that help healthtech companies meet those demands. In recent years, technologies have made it possible for healthcare service providers to treat patients better using AR/VR tools, wearables, telehealth, and many such health tech solutions.

Let’s go through the most popular technology healthcare mobile app trends:

1. Telemedicine
Although the telemedicine technology trend in healthcare isn’t considered an innovative breakthrough anymore, it is the leading mobile health trend. Telemedicine solutions are experiencing their peak in the adoption rate, and the Covid-19 influence will indeed allow this trend to last long.

There are other exciting factors behind this trend, including the abundance of areas with poor access to healthcare facilities and the cases of adverse state of healthcare infrastructure even in some of the developed countries. For instance, 35% of Canadian patients wait for over a month just to see a doctor. The United States faces a shortage of 1 million nurses. Telemedicine solutions are effective in overcoming all such challenges by bridging the gap, accelerating the process, and making healthcare services more accessible and affordable.

The healthcare service providers have already started adopting telehealth solutions to streamline their healthcare operations. Even the customers are supporting the transformation of medical services. A recent report by the Health Industry Distributors Association states that 54% of the patients prefer consulting their doctors over in-app chat or video calls. Other statistics indicate that nearly 71% of patients want their doctors to use telehealth apps.

Telemedicine apps enable patients to seek help for their chronic disease treatment with greater comfort. They don’t have to physically visit the doctor for regular checkups, which ultimately reduces patient monitoring costs and enhances patient satisfaction.

2. AI and chatbots
With each passing year, AI & ML technologies are becoming less associated with science-fiction and more with “realistic” and serious healthcare and finance aspects. The Healthcare industry is perhaps among the best possible places to implement AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology.

AI technologies provide the ability to process a large amount of data and draw insights based on it. Similar to any other trending technology in healthcare, AI is making its way into the healthcare processes. To name a few, AI is implemented to personalize treatments, analyze medical images, accelerate medical research, create drugs, and facilitate medical imaging.

Moreover, AI can streamline medical facilities’ workflow. For instance, using AI-powered RPA (Robotic Process Automation) tools, medical facilities can automate their daily paperwork and scheduling, something that is monotonous and prone to mistakes. AI can also be used to predict healthcare demand and make arrangements accordingly.

Being a disruptive technology, AI continues to draw significant attention from investors. With this continuous growth ofAI in healthcare, it is clear that the patients will continue to prefer the latest AI-powered healthcare apps to seek healthcare services as well as monitor their health. The AI market in healthcare is estimated to grow to $36.1 billion in 2025, with a tremendous CAGR of 50%.

The most widespread and popular AI implementation of AI in healthcare is chatbots. Chatbots are automatically used to make appointments, find nearby medical facilities, provide information about medicines, early assessments of patients, and even virtual nurse consultations.

Healthcare and fitness institutions like fitness clubs, hospitals, and clinics can utilize AI-powered chatbots to automate their operations. For instance, the fitness clubs can provide information about membership plans, sell subscriptions, collect and manage customer data, book appointments, and organize service quality by doing surveys.

3. Blockchain
If you’re new to the term ‘Blockchain,’ blockchain is a technology that manages databases in chains of blocks; each of these blocks contains information about the previous ones. Although blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrencies, there are several other use cases of blockchain, and one among them is securing the patient health data. Thanks to its decentralization and anonymity, blockchain can manage large amounts of data for the healthcare industry.

In addition to data security, blockchain in healthcare is used to predict patients’ health for better and quick diagnosis. It also reduces the number of errors made during the EMR/EHR data analysis.

As blockchain technology provides secure interfaces for transferring medical data among patients and doctors, Healthtech service providers use it to maintain anonymity and compliance with GDPR and HIPAA regulations.

The implementation of blockchain technology in healthcare hasn’t been significant in the last year. Still, we’re likely to see more and more health tech solution providers using blockchain to ensure effective patient care and compliance with regulatory requirements. Recently, in China, the Beijing Municipal Government Office announced a “Beijing Blockchain Innovation Development Action Plan” to build a secure and transparent healthcare infrastructure compliant with the regulatory requirements. The plan was initiated in 2020 and will be completed by 2022.

4. AR/VR
In 2021, everyone is aware of at least one use case of augmented and virtual reality technology. Like the majority of cutting-edge digital technologies, AR/VR is primarily used in the entertainment sector. You probably have visited virtual quest rooms or VR cinemas in shopping malls. Some people even purchase VR devices to use at home.

But, you’ll be surprised to know that VR enabled Goggles and helmets can not only be used for entertainment, they can also be used for several purposes in the healthcare sector. For example, the healthcare industry can implement AR/VR technologies to help patients with depression, cancer, visual impairment, autism, a study supplement for medical students, and visual demonstrations. AR is also used to analyze CT scans and MRIs.

For medical establishments, the AR/VR technology can:

Save human resource and operational cost and time.
Convert complicated health instructions into immersive training.
Enable real-life training without risking a patient’s health or equipment.
Repeat training classes with almost no associated cost.
Enable standardization of medical learning.
Thousands of healthtech companies across the world have been investing a total of more than $3 billion in AR/VR tech since 2017. The AR/VR technologies are getting popular in the fitness and wellness industry vertical. For instance, a new smart fitness gadget, named Ghost Pacer, has recently been launched. The app supported AR gadget allows users to race against a virtual avatar that only the users can see.

However, Black Box VR was among the pioneers of VR implementation in the fitness industry. The Black Box VR is a virtual reality fitness training gadget that provides users with a virtual experience as if they are working out in a giant stadium against an opponent. The software solution compares the user’s exercise movements with the fitness instructors’ recordings and provides feedback.

However, the VR implementation in the fitness industry is higher than the AR. But the AR technology has started gaining traction. Regardless of fitness level, people are interested in having immersive experiences while working out. It is beneficial for those who aren’t consistent with their exercise routine.

5.The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
A majority of modern-world’s mHealth apps would be inefficacious without IoMT devices like wearables. As per research by AllTheResearch, the global market for IoMT will reach $254.2 billion by 2026. The market stood at $44.5 billion in 2018. The study further stated that with 27% market share, smart wearable devices accounted for the largest share in the IoMT global market value in 2018.

A report by Deloitte revealed that there were more than 500,000 smart medical devices available in 2018. And with the increasing popularity of smartwatches and bands, this number will only grow. In 2021, the IoMT ecosystem includes devices such as fitness tracking devices, clinical-grade wearables, remote patient monitoring devices, smart pills, clinical monitoring setup, hospital devices, and many others.

Since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015, smart wearables have become a necessity for users who are fitness conscious and want to keep a check on their health status daily. Smartwatches and bands can help users effortlessly monitor their fitness routines just by wearing the gadget on their wrist.

However, smartwatches and bands are going advanced by offering more than just day to day lifestyle monitoring. For instance, Apple’s “Movement Disorder API” enables medical researchers to gather insights into Parkinson’s disease. IoMT devices have undoubtedly transformed the medical industry by simplifying patient health monitoring. Many healthtech companies are working on integrating smart wearable tech with clinic apps. This will significantly benefit the healthcare industry as a whole.

6. Cloud-based solutions
New Healthcare mobile app trends and gadgets allow medical professionals to gather a large amount of patient health data. The physicians and the patients can leverage this data to stay tuned to the treatment process. This also triggers patient involvement, which is very crucial for effective treatment.

The optimum utilization of real-time data can only be made possible by integrating Electronic Health Records (EHR) with cloud-based healthcare solutions. It will also ensure that patient data is shared in a secure environment. When the patient gets access to real-time health information, they can immediately get their e-prescriptions and follow it. Cloud-based apps make it easier for healthcare institutions to access or generate the patient’s medical records, insurance plans, and bills.