A new report from Parks Associates takes a bullish view of the telemedicine sector. It predicts that revenues generated from video consultations will shoot up from less than $100 million in 2013 to $13.7 billion in four years’ time. Virtual care doctor-patient video consultation revenues will grow from $900,000 to $26 million in the same time frame, according to the report.
It makes sense given the fact that employers are interested in cutting down on unnecessary healthcare costs and fewer physicians will be able to serve a growing number of people entering the healthcare system. Telemedicine companies have been keen to emphasize the convenience factor and more legislation at the state and federal level to expand the availability of telemedicine from making it easier to practice across state lines to extending reimbursement to more areas. Earlier this month, Towers Perrin estimated that employers would save up to $6 billion by using telemedicine.
Another factor that favors boosting telemedicine is expanded health insurance coverage. The report notes that locations that generate enough consumer traffic to make kiosks viable will be important to providers as they build their businesses. “Determining which locations will attract sufficient usage is a necessary industry task.”
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It definitely sees telemedicine revenue dominating that from other virtual care tools and predicts that other virtual care tools will supplement it, changing the way we interact with physicians. “As more physician practices offer virtual care and insurance companies cover the costs, patients will first visit their own doctors virtually. From these, personal doctors can assess whether an in-person visit is necessary. To supplement those visits, if needed, some consumers will use consult-a-doctor services.”
The report points out that companies with Web or kiosk telemedicine will find a niche selling to employee benefit and insurance plans. Web and video-based consultations can be offered as value-added services for employees and insurance plan subscribers.
Although drugstores like CVS and RiteAid have been expanding their involvement in telemedicine, Parks’ report focuses on the potential of accessing patients at home or at kiosks. But whether the model is the direct to consumer approach along the lines of the model Doctor on Demand offers or a solution that involves an employer plan, such as MDLive, the growth will depend on whether end consumers reach a comfort level with the technology in the next five years.
According to the Parks report, only 4 percent of households that have broadband service and use virtual care communications tools have used them 10 times or more in a two-year period. More common were the portion of households that used them once over a two-year period (36 percent) or twice (27 percent).
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One thing I disagreed with strongly in the Parks report was its prediction that over time the “mass market … will place less importance on trusted one-to-one relationships with physicians — driven by the aging of current younger generations who value such relationships less than older consumers — increasing video consultation services’ direct-to-consumer appeal.” I can see the value of telemedicine for non-emergencies, but for other situations, unless the person has mobility issues, it is a second best option. Anyone who has seen one doctor in person more than a few times and has developed a rapport with them realizes that can’t be replicated easily by telemedicine.
Other findings from the report included:
- “Communications systems that are not developed with consumers or non-technical healthcare personnel in mind will pose barriers to adoption,” the report read. “The user interface must be simple and intuitive and must be as easy for a digital novice as for a consumer who is tech-savvy.”
- Physician recommendations will be a powerful motivation for consumer trial and adoption;
- Consumer adoption of tools, such as personal health records, will be driven by need. Consumers will be more likely to create and maintain a PHR if there is an active health concern that can be addressed or better managed by convenient storage and easy updating of pertinent health information.
[Photo credit from Verizon Virtual Visits]
