Telehealth continues to enhance patient experience

Even as the pandemic loosens its grip and in-person visits return to normal, telehealth remains a piece of physicians’ everyday approach to care delivery, evolving into part of a more targeted clinical strategy.

Primary care telehealth usage among Humana members associated with value-based providers remained higher in 2021 compared to those associated with non-value providers.

Dr. Ryan Dickert, Meadowcrest’s co-CEO.

While patients and providers alike prefer in-person visits, for the purposes of assessment and diagnosis, providers have seen an increase in telemedicine visits for more routine and ongoing care such as medication, chronic disease management and preventive care.

Dedicated Senior Medical Center in South Philadelphia found that many of its senior patients trying to access care via telehealth experienced technical barriers that they were unable to troubleshoot themselves without the help of family members who were unavailable during the week. So they started offering “Weekend Clinics” to help ensure patients had a family member present to address connectivity issues and connect them with their doctor.

Through the weekend appointments, providers identified patients who needed more in-depth, in-person care and even arranged transportation for those unable to make it to the clinic themselves.

“If a member has a concern, we need to limit or even eliminate the obstacles patients must tackle to get to their care team such as phone trees, call centers, non-specific nursing or reception pools,” says Dr. Alex Dickert, Meadowcrest co-CEO. “Telehealth is a natural extension of this concept.”