Today, hospital CEOs and CMOs face the increasing challenge of providing high-quality care while maintaining operational efficiency. The solution that is revolutionizing the American healthcare landscape is known as a hybrid care model. This model combines traditional in-person care with telemedicine, not replacing physicians but offering staff and patients more. This proactive approach positions hospitals and health systems to thrive in the face of retiring physicians and an increasingly aging population. Hybrid care usage remains 38 times higher than its pre-pandemic levels. Below are the top five reasons to implement a hybrid care model in your hospital system.
- Improve Physician Retention with Work/Life Balance – According to the National Library of Medicine, one-third of clinicians believe burnout is the biggest threat to our healthcare industry and they are not alone. Vox found that six out of 10 doctors are attempting to manage feelings of burnout, day in and day out. Consider incorporating a hybrid care model to mitigate these concerns in your hospital. With telemedicine, hospitals can offer physicians greater flexibility in their schedules, allowing them to manage their time more effectively and reduce stress, achieving better work/life balance and, in turn, provide better care.
- Enhanced Patient Accessibility and Satisfaction – With a hybrid care model, patients anywhere can receive expert consultation without leaving their community. The model significantly improves patient accessibility, reaching broader patient bases, especially in remote or underserved areas.
You don’t have to search far for success stories. One COO, Amie Powel, of Goodland Regional Medical Center, faced several challenges in expanding specialty care and improving patient satisfaction. This was largely due to the hospital’s location. They serve a large, rural population across several counties. As a designated Critical Access hospital, Goodland also provides family medicine services through its Rural Health Clinic to a large population of Medicare, commercially insured, and Medicaid patients. With a hybrid care model, Powell was able to increase access and improve patient care ten-fold. Powell was quoted expressing her thanks, “By collaborating with Eagle Telemedicine and the other rural hospitals in our network, our rural patients can now receive specialist care at our local healthcare facility, and local healthcare providers can access subspecialists’ expertise.”
- Grow Patient Retention and Loyalty – While there is never just one reason that affects patient retention or loyalty, incorporating telemedicine addresses several drawbacks before they become an issue. Hospitals offering a hybrid care model meet patient needs for convenient and flexible healthcare, especially at a time when some wait months for an appointment due to limited specialist availability. This ease of access will lead to stronger patient-provider relationships, contributing to higher patient retention rates.
- Save Money with Operational Efficiency – Telemedicine is not just convenient for patients; it is a game-changer for hospital operations. By combining in-person and virtual resources, hospitals can optimize their staffing mix to reduced overhead costs. In fact, hospitals with any form of hybrid care experience decreased patient transfers, ensured overflow capacity, increased higher paying services without the added cost of recruiting on-site physicians or high-cost locum tenens. Other benefits include mitigated costs from night and surge coverage, and reduced credentialing paperwork through physician “pods” of dedicated providers.
- Gain a Competitive Advantage – Adopting the hybrid care model by adding telemedicine services positions hospitals as leaders in their communities. If one thing is clear, demand continues to grow. Around 40% of consumers stated that they believe they will continue to use telehealth going forward. This statistic is up from 11% from consumers prior to COVID-19, further underscoring the need for hospitals to integrate telemedicine to stay ahead of the curve, expanding specialist access and offering the highest quality care.
A hybrid care model is not just a temporary solution but a strategic approach that addresses many challenges faced by the modern healthcare system. The benefits are clear, and the time to act is now. To take the first step towards implementing telemedicine at your hospital and building a hybrid care model that truly works, contact Eagle Telemedicine today.
Related Posts:
How to Stop Your Physicians from Leaving
Keeping Your Staff Physicians with Telemedicine
