One healthcare trend in the U.S. that has emerged and increased with the Covid
pandemic is virtual care. Trends such as telehealth, virtual care, and home-based care have
become the new norm. Telehealth visits specifically, spiked at the beginning of the
pandemic and continue, with these visits as the new virtual mindset. In February of 2020,
only about 1% of Medicare primary patient appointments were conducted via telehealth.
By April of the same year, only 2 months later, that number jumped to 43% which affected
organizations, providers, and patients tremendously (Martin, 2022). Proper planning and
implementation are critical in preparing for this new virtual trend.
00000000000 Implications on financial planning include increase in proper technology,
setting up electronic health records (EHR) for proper virtual communications between
patients and providers, scheduling time slots for provider visits as well as communication
and education for all involved. These elements should be considered for revenue and
profitability when planning for a future with telehealth visits as an increased part of an
organization’s offerings. These implications can affect the number of patients that are able
to be seen. On average, the speed of telehealth allows for four more patient visits in a four-
hour time slot than in person visits. This affords more billing opportunities which
ultimately increase revenue for the organization. The aforementioned elements would all
effect revenue if not planned for appropriately and would have a negative affect on the
organization, providers, patients, and revenue (Zielinski, 2020).
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Martin, G., (2022). Top 10 emerging trends in healthcare for 2021: The new
normal.0American Hospital Association.[Retrieved from]: https://www.aha.org
Zielinski, L., (2020). How to plan for and profitably operate telehealth
services.0Healthcare Financial Management Association.[Retrieved
from]:0https://www.hfma.org
