A health care trend that became very popular during this pandemic is
virtual care. According to Barron et al, the rise of virtual care has
been driven by the need for social distancing and enabled by a wide
range of policy flexibilities implemented by federal and state
legislators, regulators and payers (2021). The virtual care was
seamlessly integrated and the mode of the care delivery is based on
clinical appropriateness and factors such as convenience and cost
(Barron et al, 2021). The integration of digital health solutions such
as telehealth visits, remote monitoring, asynchronous telehealth,
continuous and passive sensors offers potential to provide access to
high-quality care and positive patient and physician experiences at a
lower cost (Barron et al, 2021). It is important to also note that some
patients may have to take time off work unpaid along with the
expenses for transportation and parking just to get to their doctor's
office.
Reference:
Barron, M., Mishra, V., Lloyd, S. & Augenstein, J. (2021). How to
measure the value of virtual healthcare. https://hbr.org/2021/06/how-
to-measure-the-value-of-virtual-health-care
