Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the telehealth industry
[2] Telehealth companies have witnessed substantial growth in their business operations since the onset of the pandemic, evident in the significant rise in both patient volume and financial prosperity.
NYU Langone Health's telehealth platform swiftly expanded by integrating over 1,300 new healthcare providers during the pandemic, highlighting the industry's meteoric surge.
Evidently, Teladoc's stock valuation in 2020 increased year to date by 168%, while the industry's second-largest company, Amwell, went public on September 17, 2020.
This growth had attracted interest from venture capitalists and other investors seeking to partake in the telehealth industry's expansion during the pandemic.
Additionally, telehealth startups experienced a year-over-year increase of 1,818% in funding during 2020.In 2020, over 50% of all outpatient care was being delivered completely virtually at its peak during the pandemic.
[5] Analysts believe that this growth will be somewhat sustained due to the pandemic allowing telehealth to overcome its biggest obstacle, which was its lack of awareness among patients and providers.
[9] Patients from various demographic locations have given positive reviews on telehealth services due to which telehealth/ telemedicine appears to paint a bright future for the industry.
[10] Cross-state practice issues can inhibit the growth of the telehealth market due to it affecting the staff composition at these companies.
[10] Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial payers all have a unique set of rules and criteria for coverage and reimbursements for telehealth services.
[10] These unique rules and inconsistencies could potentially add another layer of complexity for providers to have to go through in order to get paid for their services.
[10] This requirement has evolved in some states to focus more on the existence of several factors such as the patient's medical history or the provider's affirmative acts.
[13] During the pandemic telemental health care (mostly phone and video calls) was effective and viewed as acceptable by the majority of clinicians and service users for use in an emergency situation.
[13] The rates of telemental health use seem to have declined as COVID-19 restrictions were loosened, indicating that face-to-face care might be preferable for some service users and clinicians.
[2] At the University of Michigan, a study found that on average patients travel a total of 110 miles to attend a clinic visit.
[15] Due to these benefits there is a potential for telehealth to increase their market share of the substance abuse segment of healthcare.
[18] In the United States, there are predictions that around $250 billion of Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial OP could become virtualized, which would represent 20% of the total market share.
