Page 4 Unlocking The Potential of Physician to Patient Telehealth Services The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

Figure 1: User interface for American Well, a telehealth provider.

Data about health care providers similarly reflects the low level of adoption of telehealth
services. A recent review of Medicare claims data from 2009 (the most recent year for
which data has been made available) found that only 369 health care providers had
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provided ten or more telehealth services in the previous year. In addition, only
8
approximately 40 percent of U.S. hospitals have implemented telehealth services.

THE BENEFITS OF TELEHEALTH
Telehealth services overcome a number of barriers in traditional health care practices and
offer patients and providers multiple benefits, including improvements in health care
quality, more convenience, and lower costs. Many of the benefits overlap. For example,
lower costs and greater convenience encourage patients to see a doctor sooner, which can
often lead to better health care outcomes.

Quality
Telehealth has shown the potential to connect doctors with patients without diminishing
the quality of care the patients receive, and in some cases, even improving it. Many
physician-to-patient interactions that used to be conducted face-to-face can now be
completed over the Internet using videoconferencing or store-and-forward technology
without sacrificing the quality of care. In addition, remote monitoring serves as a
complement to traditional in-person treatment and has the potential to improve quality of
life and health outcomes for those with chronic diseases.

Telehealth consultation using videoconferencing technology can improve efficiency
without diminishing the quality of care provided. Depending on the nature of care being
provided, benefits of using telehealth technology can be substantial. In specialties where
most of the interaction with the patient is verbal, such as psychiatry, neurology, or genetic

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