There is no denying that COVID-19 has altered everyday life, from the economy to society. The pandemic has also had a significant impact on the healthcare system, leading to the rapid adoption of virtual healthcare tools, such as telehealth.
This rapid growth in the investment and adoption of virtual healthcare tools has revolutionized the healthcare industry. Virtual healthcare tools are also linked to numerous benefits, such as increased accessibility of care and improved health outcomes.
Many healthcare professionals now rely on virtual healthcare tools, such as those who have completed their doctor of nursing practice online. These virtual tools can be used in a range of different ways, such as online consultations to remote monitoring devices.
If you’re interested in how virtual healthcare has transformed the medical industry, this article is for you. It explores the impact the pandemic had on virtual healthcare, such as the rise of telehealth, and provides a brief overview of how the technology has evolved over the years.
What is virtual healthcare?
Virtual healthcare is a broad term that describes healthcare services and tools that are provided through digital channels. Common examples of virtual healthcare include:
- Telehealth
- Wearable sensors
- Electronic medical records
- AI-powered chatbots
- Robotics
The most common form of virtual healthcare would be telehealth appointments. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that in 2021, 37% of adults used telemedicine within 12 months.
Since 2021, the use of telemedicine services has only grown. According to a Rock Health report published in February 2023, four in five (80%) of people have used a telemedicine service at least once.
Despite the stigma that telemedicine services aren’t as effective as in-person visits, findings from a CDC report suggest otherwise. They found that most primary care physicians and medical specialists were able to provide a similar quality of care during telemedicine visits as in-person visits.
How it’s changing the game
Virtual healthcare is transforming the entire medical landscape. This includes how primary care is delivered to fields such as pharmacy, nursing, and admin. Below is a list outlining a few benefits that virtual healthcare tools can provide.
- Expanded access to care: Virtual healthcare tools that allow for remote services improve accessibility. It allows for people with a condition restricting mobility or living in remote/rural areas to access healthcare without travel, and for providers to expand their scope of services.
- Comfort and convenience: With telemedicine, patients can access healthcare services from the comfort of their own home. This can increase the quality of life and convenience.
- Disease control: Virtual healthcare can prevent the spread of disease while providing/receiving healthcare services through virtual conferences (telemedicine).
- Remote monitoring: Virtual healthcare tools, such as Holter monitors and smartwatches, allow for the remote monitoring of bodily functions. This can improve the quality of care and accuracy.
Bridging the healthcare gap
Virtual healthcare is also playing a massive role in bridging the healthcare gap. The healthcare gap refers to the disparities in healthcare access, healthcare needs, and medical services.
Numerous factors influence healthcare disparities and contribute to the widening of this gap. This includes social, economic, environmental, and racial factors. It’s a hard truth, but healthcare delivery is not experienced equitably by all populations in the United States.
Virtual healthcare services, such as telemedicine, help bridge this gap, as they target how people access, experience, and receive healthcare. For example, telemedicine is making consultations more accessible, especially for people in rural areas.
Telemedicine is breaking down barriers in the medical industry, allowing people to access healthcare services regardless of distance. Similarly, it allows healthcare professionals to provide services in areas they wouldn’t have been able to previously.
The United States is also facing a nationwide healthcare professional shortage. Statistics report that over 65 million Americans are living in an area designated as a Health Professional Shortage Area.
Furthermore, 96% of counties were either classified as whole county or partial county primary care Health Professional Shortage areas. Virtual healthcare helps combat this, as it allows people from these areas to still access healthcare services through telemedicine, without having to relocate or travel.
The rise of virtual healthcare
Although virtual healthcare might seem like a recent invention, services such as telemedicine have existed for over a century. The term telemedicine was coined back in the 1960s by Thomas Bird, literally translating to “healing at a distance” from the Latin word “medicus” and Greek “tele.”
One of the earliest and most famous uses of hospital-based telemedicine dates back to the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Nebraska Psychiatric Institute and Norfolk State Hospital had a closed-circuit television link established to facilitate psychiatric consultations.
This closed-circuit television link isn’t too different from modern-day telemedicine. As communication and information technologies evolved, so did telemedicine and virtual healthcare.
Now, instead of television links, these consultations can happen over a phone call or through video conferencing software. It’s become commonplace for physicians and mental health professionals, such as psychologists and counsellors, to provide their services remotely.
Telemedicine and virtual health are only expected to grow in the future, as it has become an integral part of healthcare. Statistics show that a significant portion—at least 50%—of hospitals engage in telemedicine.
Many allied health professions have also adopted virtual healthcare tools to improve their quality of care. For example, electronic prescriptions have become commonplace for pharmacies, allowing for the prescribing, dispensing, and claiming of medicines electronically.
