b One major trend, that I see many others have talked about, is the
rise of telehealth! It is something I have talked to many of my friends
and colleagues about. There have been many pros and cons and of
course many implications affecting financial planning. One thing,
unrelated to financial planning that I often worry about is quality of
assessment. For a short burst during the pandemic there was the
inability to get in-person appointments unless urgent. For physical
symptoms and concerns there was a lack of ability to do physical
assessments, where many healthcare professionals had to get
creative. It was rather interesting to see the ways they were able to
get needed assessments done! I am interested if any of you had
experience with the same? Anyway, on to the important topic at
hand!
b b b b To begin with, telehealth has been estimated to save on
average of 120 dollars per virtual visit compared to an in person visit
(Snoswell et al., 2020). This includes time in the office, supplies used,
and so on. However, it also saves the patient money. Take for
example the money saved on traveling to an office, and possibility of
not needing to take time off of work to attend doctor visits. During
COVID it also may have saved quite a few people from being
exposed to diseases unnecessarily by not having to share small
spaces in doctor’s offices! Which may have saved many follow up or
hospital visits. Short appointments, such as appointments needed to
help refill prescriptions and address symptoms since last visit become
more efficient financially and physically for both professionals and
patients. Allowing more time with other patients.
One benefit seen is persons may be more willing to see or meet with
healthcare professionals through tele-health visits. There are people
who may be anxious going to an in-person doctor’s office. By
offering healthcare to come to them, and having the ability for them
to meet in what they deem a ‘comfortable space’ many may become
less anxious and more willing to go to doctor’s appointments. This
helped create a greater draw of patients to healthcare clinics.
Financially it may help create more jobs to meet the need, but also a
greater profit for clinics.
b b b b Next, telehealth needs to have up to date technology to
offer the proper care to its patients. Healthcare offices must have
strong internet connection and available up to date electronics to
connect with its patients. The cost of updating technology and the
services needed to run it can cost anywhere up to 15,000-150,000
dollars for companies, depending on size, population served and so
on (Horiachko, 2022). This cost, although steep, may help clinics or
healthcare agencies save money in the long run if they deem the
service needed.
b b b b One final implication that telehealth has on financial
planning is the security of the information. Aside from just up to date
internet and technology, healthcare companies must have a plan and
adequate coverage for the potential of hackers stealing confidential
information. It was found on average that in 2020 data breach’s cost
healthcare companies $7.13 million (Landi, 2020). Most of the
information stolen was personal identifiable information, which was
also the most costly for businesses (Landi, 2020). It is possible to buy
systems which help work to protect these threats, and they were
able to find a savings difference of nearly three million dollars for
companies that had it in place (Landi, 2020).
b b Overall, I believe there is a bright and needed future for
telehealth, and the pros and cons regarding its financial planning
weight must be measured. For many clinics telehealth has created
positive opportunities and allowed for growth and savings. Hopefully
it continues to grow.
b References b b
Horiachko, A. (2022, April 11). Cost of telemedicine app: Is it a worthy
investment? Softermii. https://www.softermii.com/blog/cost-of-
telemedicine
Landi, H. (2020, July 29). Average cost of healthcare data breach rises
to $7.1m, according to IBM report. Fierce Healthcare.
https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/average-cost-healthcare-
data-breach-rises-to-7-1m-according-to-ibm-report
Snoswell C, Taylor M, Comans T, Smith A, Gray L, Caffery L.. (2020).
Determining if Telehealth Can b Reduce Health System Costs:
Scoping Review. J Med Internet Res; 22(10):e17298 b b
https://www.jmir.org/2020/10/e17298 DOI: 10.2196/17298
