Providing market intelligence for more than 35 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

The Radical Changes That Are Making Your Smart Home Less Dumb

Most homes are “smart”: Consumer-tech tracking firm Parks Associates reports just over half of internet-connected U.S. households own at least one smart speaker. From the article, "The Radical...

People are boycotting Disney, Hulu, and ESPN after ABC yanked Jimmy Kimmel off the air. Will it work?

Elizabeth Parks, president and chief marketing officer of Park Associates, said Disney’s biggest risk in the short-term is potentially losing advertisers, but large-scale subscriber losses for Disney+...

SimpliSafe to Join Everon Owner GTCR’s Security Holdings

GTCR’s deal for SimpliSafe is unpacked with analysis from Kirk MacDowell and Elizabeth Parks covering strategy, competitive responses and the shift toward add-on services and market adjacencies. El...

The Weekly Briefing: Market reports and high-tech grocery stores

Parks Associates appoints Cliff Raskind as consulting director and contributing analyst. The research firm, which focuses on the Internet of Things market, recently launched a consulting practice that...