It’s easy to make the mistake of equating access with care. Logisticare CEO Dan Greenleaf shares in FierceHealthcare how treating the most troubled patients holistically in-person, improves outcomes, prevents social isolation, and ensures access to quality care, while significantly reducing costs.
Article Excerpt
Even as digital healthcare models, such as telehealth, get massive new investments due to the coronavirus pandemic, we need to take care that the most vulnerable patients are not left behind.
For the sickest and neediest among us—whose healthcare tends to drive the highest costs—tech-driven healthcare could bring with it some grim unintended consequences. Among them: deepened isolation, uneven access and even higher costs in the end.
Pre-pandemic, there was not much urgency to rush to new tech solutions. Last year, only 11% of U.S. consumers were using telehealth, according to McKinsey & Company. There was no rush to build out infrastructure.
Enter a global pandemic. This year, nearly half of canceled in-person doctor visits have been replaced by the video variety.
It’s a trend that’s expected to stick, with estimates that telehealth may soon account for $250 billion in spending.
