How medical practice is reinventing itself through telemedicine ?

The current health crisis is stimulating innovation in digital medical services. This unusual situation reveals a structural need linked to global demographics. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2019 half of the world’s population had no access to basic healthcare. By 2050, the number of people over the age of 60 will have doubled to reach 2.1 billion, while healthcare spending will increase around the world by 5.4% a year. While in 2030, the world will need an estimated 80 million doctors and nurses, there will also be a shortage of over 15 million healthcare workers. Thus, hospital and health networks must meet increasing pressure to improve care outcomes while lowering operational costs.

Against this backdrop, remote medical services are experiencing sustained growth.

As a sustainable care delivery model, telemedicine is taking patient’s outcomes and cost savings to a higher level. In the industry search for new approaches to such challenges as lack of access to quality care, provider burnout, care gaps in chronic disease management, escalating costs, virtual healthcare services have become a clinically and economically successful option alongside acute and ambulatory care.

In France only, during the first week of confinement from 23rd to 29th of March 2020 a record number of 486 369 teleconsultations was recorded by the French Social Security

(www.ameli.fr) against only 10 000 a week earlier.

The advantages of remote medical services are numerous: access to quality care in remote locations, reduction of unnecessary hospital and emergency room visits, increase in medical provider productivity, possibility to quickly treat a patient by videocall.

According to the study conducted by Media Logic blog ‘6 Key Statistics About Millennials and Telemedicine’, 74% of millennials prefer telemedicine visits to in-person appointments.

Though certain types of illnesses and problems require a face-to-face physical assessment and cannot be diagnosed through remote medical services, telemedicine is a positive and growing medical treatment option.

Employers and government organizations are increasingly relying on telehealth platforms to provide healthcare services to employees. Teleconsultations are already reimbursed by public healthcare bodies in many European countries as well as by many private health insurance companies.

Henner works with a range of telemedicine providers able to fulfil local needs:

• Secure access around the clock to book consultations
• Provide up-to-the minute health advice from a local and global team of licensed doctors
• Establish medical opinion so members can be reassured and make informed decisions with confidence

Reach out to your Henner contact to find out more about telemedicine and which offer will best suit your clients’ expectations.