Telemedicine has been a growing industry for decades. While many people didn’t even hear of the term until the pandemic, telemedicine in its broadest form has existed since the 1900s, when doctors first started to interact with patients remotely using television monitoring and other techniques.
Nowadays, telemedicine, which is ultimately defined as the delivery of long-distance healthcare services using electronic means, is more prevalent than ever. In fact, more than 30% of patients now use telemedicine for their healthcare checkups. There are a multitude of conveniences to doing so, yet as stories about missed diagnoses and limited in-person appointments hit the headlines, public opinions of telemedicine aren’t always favorable.
Despite that fact, there’s no denying one vital industry reality – telemedicine is transforming remote healthcare in significant ways. This ability to provide quality care to rural areas could save millions of lives. In this article, we’ll consider how that’s possible, and how healthcare providers can finally get the public on board with this change.
The Truth About Telemedicine and Remote Care
It’s no secret that there are notable healthcare discrepancies between remote areas of America and more rural city locations. Studies have found that there are just 39.8 primary care physicians per 100,000 people in remote areas, compared with 53.3 in urban locations. The fallout from this difference is notable, with those in rural communities facing a multitude of health disparities that those in the city don’t. Most worryingly of all, the CDC reports that rural residents face higher risks of death due to limited access to specialized healthcare and emergency services.
This would be bad enough if it impacted just a small portion of the population, but roughly one in five people in the US now live rurally. In other words, many people stand to suffer from an inability to access quality care in their area.
This is a problem that telemedicine is uniquely able to solve by ensuring access to even the most specialist healthcare regardless of location. This is especially true in light of key legislative changes in recent years, which have included –
- Expanding services: States including California and New York have expanded the scope of telehealth services they’re able to offer, which now span everything from mental health services to physical therapy.
- Parity of payment: Many states are now overcoming telemedicine’s lack of reimbursement parity by passing laws that require insurance companies to reimburse telemedicine services at the same rate as in-person visits.
- Changes in licensure: Several states have recently introduced new licensure models like the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which allows healthcare providers to practice across state lines without the need of multiple licenses.
In each instance, telemedicine has grown in quality, affordability, and accessibility, a fact that’s already led to a higher quality of remote healthcare, particularly across ongoing focuses like diabetes management.
Understanding Public Opinion
On paper, the benefits of telemedicine speak for themselves – here, finally, it seems like there’s a solution to overcoming notable location-based care discrepancies. Public opinion also seems largely in favor, with 64% of people now actively preferring telemedicine communications over in-person appointments. But it would be naive to assume that this means there are no public concerns.
Most notably, 75% of patients report struggles with trusting a telemedicine diagnosis. Studies largely back this fear, reporting that misdiagnosis is the most common medical malpractice risk associated with telehealth.
Taking healthcare into the digital sphere also poses significant security concerns for as many as 43% of patients, with 35% reporting concerns about risks like session hacking. Unfortunately, while technology continues to evolve against these threats, many wide-scale breaches so far have only served to strengthen this concern.
While telemedicine technically increases healthcare access for remote occupants, these concerns still serve as notable barriers to outcomes overall. Many remote patients are either unwilling to seek telemedicine recommendations, or remain uncertain about following this long-distance medical advice.
Overcoming Telemedicine Trust Issues
Telemedicine might be an opportunity for healthcare providers to expand services where they’re needed the most, but it’s also one of the most notable industry challenges to date. With both patients and physicians expressing doubts, and with notable risks including misdiagnosis and data breaches continuing to come to the fore, major change is required before telemedicine’s true possibilities can come within rural reach.
As we enter 2025, healthcare providers are under increasing pressure to perfect their remote telemedicine offerings. A few ways to do this while finally getting rural patients onside include –
# 1 – Providing as Much Information as Possible
Telemedicine has been a core part of the healthcare industry since as far back as the 1950s, but its role as a more patient-facing service is still relatively new. This, and the fact that many patients misunderstand the role telemedicine is trying to fill, highlights the need to provide as much information about these services as possible.
For providers targeting remote areas, it’s particularly important to make clear the role of telemedicine as it stands alongside, rather than as a replacement, for in-person care. Stressing the need to use telehealth for only routine problems can especially help to improve patient outcomes, and also ensures that patients continue to prioritize in-person where it’s required.
Patient education regarding things like the use of telemedicine platforms and services also stands to improve outcomes. This is especially vital in remote areas, where there may be less general understanding of things like telemedicine apps and programs. Education might include software tutorials, written manuals, and even phone helplines.
# 2 – Choosing Reliable Telehealth Platforms
Choosing the right telehealth platform is now a key consideration for any healthcare provider, and should consider factors like ease of use and compliance, as well as affordability. In the US, telemedicine platforms should particularly ensure HIPAA, PIPEDA, or PHIPA compliance, alongside crucial end-to-end encryption. It’s also vital that patients and providers can easily access and use this service, ensuring truly accessible, reliable care country-wide.
Providers should also seek to avoid siloed software in their telemedicine setups, as these significantly increase the risks of everything from misdiagnosis to compromised security. Having to download multiple platforms and apps can be incredibly off-putting to patients, making them less likely to access these services. By comparison, a comprehensive platform that provides a variety of telemedicine capabilities in one place, including prescriptions, appointments, and more, will result in far better outcomes and uptake.
# 3 – Building the Infrastructure to Back It Up
Telemedicine’s ability to bring care to even the most rural locations can provide invaluable benefits, but it isn’t a stand-alone solution. To be effective, healthcare providers should also ensure the infrastructure necessary to back up this claim of care accessibility. After all, while telemedicine may be a patient’s first stop, it can often lead to far larger care journeys.
Obviously, it won’t always be possible to provide benefits like specialist centers in all remote locations, but things like even short-term physical locations for specialist services can prove transformative. Equally considering the lack of emergency services in many of these areas, healthcare providers could benefit from introducing things like short-stay emergency departments, or even investing in ambulance remounts and a local ambulance bay to take telemedicine patients to urban locations if necessary.
These investments can significantly expand the value telemedicine offers, ensuring comprehensive rural care that begins at home but can also quickly be left in professional hands if a patient’s condition escalates.
# 4 – Investment in In-Person Appointments
As already stated, telemedicine is not a replacement for in-person appointments, nor should it claim to be. This service should certainly never be used to replace the already limited in-person physician appointments available rurally. To be effective, telemedicine software should stand alongside increased physician employment in affected areas.
By ensuring that in-person care is also available, providers can significantly lessen the risks of things like misdiagnosis due to telemedicine misuse. Increased numbers of general community physicians can also serve to connect rural patients with relevant specialties and services via telemedicine. This can increase the use of these services, and local understanding of their potential, ensuring that they’re an investment that’s always worth making.
Conclusion
Telemedicine is already transforming remote healthcare in notable ways, but it has the potential to do far more if both healthcare providers and patients get behind this cause. Healthcare providers, in particular, have the power to assuage resident fears and ensure the value of telemedicine services that stand the test of time.
With the right infrastructure backing and technologies behind them, healthcare providers will certainly see an ongoing surge in everything from mental health services to the routine appointments that happen online or over the phone. This could prove key to freeing overwhelmed rural physicians from dealing with routine issues, and should improve everything from general resident health to medicine accessibility and beyond.
Over time, experts predict that telemedicine can help rural residents with a wide number of issues including heart health, obesity, and beyond. Providers simply need to follow tips like the ones in this article to make sure that’s the case.
