Providing Market Intelligence for 40 Years

What should executives keep in mind as they consider the expanding acceptance of and preference for virtual care delivery among consumers and payers? There are three big considerations that are outlined in Virtual Care Demand Could Test Care Providers’ Health IT Infrastructure In 2015, a piece by Harry Wang, the lead analyst for Parks Associates’ digital health research program, that appeared recently in Computerworld.

  1. The video revolution has its challenges – While traditional patient portals are probably fine, according to Mr. Wang, interactive communications services using video could be a potential area for trouble. The issues to consider include video player configurations and related software challenges, system capabilities and reliability for increased video traffic, and security.
  2. Real-time health information exchange is the expectation – Virtual care increases timely access to professionals, and consumers expect their medical records to keep up. Increasing use of telehealth will highlight the problems of interoperability (see Net Neutrality Is About More Than Streaming Movies and Interoperable Electronic Data Exchange Is Non-Existent Among Long-Term Care Provider Organizations). Consumers expect timely access to past health records, lab tests, and diagnostic imaging.
  3. Dealing with all that remote monitoring data – The most advanced of virtual care systems leverage consumer self-monitoring capabilities, and integrated them into virtual care sessions. It sounds quite simple, but how such data will be fed into electronic health records (EHR) without delay and then compared with similar historical data is no simple matter. And, it is critically important to both the consumer experience and realizing cost savings from e-health.

From the article "The Uphill Climb To Virtual Care" by Monica E. Oss.

Previously In The News

Roku Adds Google Assistant and 2 New Players to Its Lineup

But it's obvious that Roku is feeling the heat from Amazon's aggressive push in the TV streaming (and smart TV) market. According to research from Parks Associates, Roku had the lead in streaming medi...

Where’s the antenna support on streaming-TV boxes?

Antenna use is on the rise. According to Parks Associates, 15 percent of U.S. homes with broadband service used an antenna instead of traditional pay TV service in Q3 2016, up from around 10 percent a...

Google Home now has a screen — and, soon, Spotify

The small, candle-shaped speaker equipped with the artificial-intelligence personal helper Google Assistant, has sold about 300,000 units since hitting the market in October, according to research and...

Google's DIY Security Exit Spurs Doubts About Segment's Future: Parks

Google's decision to discontinue its three-year-old Nest Secure do-it-yourself security system wasn’t a surprise, given Google’s $450 million investment in security stalwart ADT in August, Parks Assoc...