Unfortunately, there is a lack of alignment between the three healthcare stakeholders (patients, physicians and insurers). This lack of alignment has made the financial burden side of healthcare delivery high. Thankfully, the role of telemedicine is increasing in today’s hospitals to help the healthcare industry head back in the right direction.
During COVID, telemedicine use started exploding within the infectious disease and critical care service areas. As things have died down, telemedicine continues to prove advantageous for multiple specialties and has helped reduce the physician shortage issue.
In fact, according to the recent Eagle Telemedicine Adoption survey, implementing telemedicine decreases costs while increasing patient satisfaction. While this type of care isn’t ideal for every situation, it is one way to effectively help reduce the costs associated with healthcare delivery while balancing all the stakeholders’ interests.
Fixing a Financially Broken Healthcare Delivery Model
Recently, Kelly Wisness, host of BESLER’s The Hospital Finance Podcast, interviewed Jason Povio, President and COO of Eagle Telemedicine to discuss the financial struggles of healthcare and how telemedicine is helping relieve this burden. Listen to this podcast here:
BESLER: The Hospital Finance Podcast: Our Financially Broken Healthcare Delivery – How Can We Fix It
In the conversation, Kelly Wisness and Jason Povio discuss:
- The current method of healthcare delivery
- Who is being adversely affected?
- What can be done to fix the system?
- The strongest demand for telemedicine
During this conversation, Povio shared:
“…For those CFOs that may be listening or other financially minded individuals, the expense base (with telemedicine) really is reduced materially. (With telemedicine) it was just over $800 a night roughly on average for those same shifts that were (traditionally) costing $2,300-$2,400. So, with an average savings of about $1,500 per night, and 365 nights a year, you get to be close to (a savings of) $550,000 per hospital (per year). That is a material cost savings for the hospital that they can reinvest in other resources and continue to provide care to their communities.”
“I think rural hospitals are starting to think about how this can be applied in the community more from an outpatient setting perspective. And so, there’s been a lot of interest and a lot of movement towards multi-specialty outpatient clinics where a rural hospital can maybe take advantage of resources invested in a brick-and-mortar location, leverage staff in a way, and manage capacity to actually offer access to a variety of specialties throughout the week to its community.”
“There’s an intrinsic value of being able to develop and design cost-effective solutions for communities across the country to help create that access. And to do so in very collaborative ways where we’re partnering with local physicians in addition to being the sole provider in many cases has been really exciting for us as we’re continuing to grow.”
To hear or read the full interview, go to The Hospital Finance Podcast episode.
Related Posts:
Telemedicine’s Role in Easing Hospital Physician Recruiting Woes
Case Study: Patient Surge and Rising Costs Prompt Move to Telemedicine
