Page 7 Unlocking The Potential of Physician to Patient Telehealth Services The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation

those nearby, telehealth represents an opportunity to decrease the wait time for patients to
consult their doctors, leading to faster diagnoses and answers to time-dependent inquiries
and concerns. Even in cases where the condition cannot be diagnosed using telehealth,
virtual consultations can help patients quickly learn when it is important for them to see a
doctor in person immediately and when they can wait. In health care areas where early
identification of illnesses is a key component to successful treatment, the efficiency
promoted by these technologies can potentially be life-saving.

Telehealth services allow health care professionals to be more productive, an increasingly
important goal given the shortage of health care workers available to meet the needs of an
aging population and the millions of additional Americans who now have health insurance
under the Affordable Care Act. Seeing patients online allows physicians to see more
patients in a day with less paperwork to complete. In addition, doctors have the freedom to
consult with patients from their own homes or even when they are on vacation, expanding
the time they are available to provide care. Most importantly, doctors using telehealth
systems can treat more patients. After Kaiser Permanente implemented a teledermatology

Doctors using telehealth program, they were able to handle 50 percent more cases than was possible with face-to-
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face interactions. In addition, such a system allows easy access to specialists in the field
services can treat more and the potential to conference in more than one doctor to help make a diagnosis or
patients—after Kaiser answer specific questions.
Permanent implemented
a teledermatology The benefits of virtual doctor-to-patient interactions are particularly pronounced in rural
areas. Telehealth can help increase access to basic healthcare for underserved populations
program, they were able who may live far from a health care provider, who live in an area where there is a low
to handle 50 percent number of physicians per capita, or who otherwise do not have affordable access to health
more cases. care. Telehealth can increase patients’ access to specialists. Specialists in a variety of fields
including oncology, pediatrics, gynecology, and geriatrics, use telehealth services to provide
care. Individuals living in more remote areas may otherwise have less access to some of
these types of physicians.

The state of Arkansas has for the last ten years engaged in a major push to connect rural
patients with its research hospital in Fayetteville. The state, which has a shortage of
specialists in many of its rural areas, has used telehealth services to improve access to
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specialists such as neurologists and cardiologists. Using a telehealth program to provide
obstetrical advice so that women with high-risk pregnancies could be directed to hospitals
with neonatologists on staff, Arkansas saw its sixty-day infant mortality rate decline by 0.5
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percent. The state has since expanded its telehealth program to include a variety of
medical services previously unavailable to many of its residents.

While Arkansas’ efforts were mostly limited to within that state, the potential for interstate
or even international collaboration is high. In the future, rural Arkansans could be
electronically linked to specialists in Massachusetts, New York, or even abroad. Telehealth
can ensure that health care professionals are efficiently allocated where they are needed. A
surplus of doctors in New York, for example, can help fill excess in demand in North
Dakota. Telehealth can help better connect doctors and patients regardless of location,

THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION FOUNDATION | MAY 2014 PAGE 7