United States of America at St. Luke's Health System

Abby Losinski

Have you ever caught yourself saying no to a new opportunity in your business because you thought there was not enough capacity in the workforce to support it? Sometimes the environment forces companies to implement the very thing they were resistant to, and they find it was the best decision they ever made – the choice to try. We can be so afraid to try because of the possibility of failure. There is no industry that knows this to be true more than healthcare.

Prior to March 2020, very few healthcare organizations offered telehealth to their community. There were certainly regulatory restrictions on what insurance companies would reimburse, but this benefit could have been offered at any time as a cash-pay service. Still, it took a pandemic for healthcare to progress telehealth from the 1990s. Many healthcare professionals reminisce about the frantic rush required to turn on video visits in early 2020 and the skyrocketing volumes experienced within days of making this choice available. Now, three years later, there is a 7 percent decrease in the utilization of telehealth across the United States. Healthcare leaders continue to speculate on what could cause a decrease in something that was in such high demand for two years.

It is easy to look at this data and attribute the decrease to a lack of patient interest, but healthcare organizations need to look internally and evaluate what the COVID-19 pandemic taught us about healthcare consumers that may have never been discovered otherwise. The answer is simpler than you would think. The increase in telehealth utilization during 2020 through 2022 was not just due to the fear of COVID-19 exposure, it was what consumers had been waiting for from the healthcare industry for a decade - convenience. Navigating a healthcare system was always difficult, but suddenly, keeping the patient at home was the priority for healthcare systems and magically, access became easier in a matter of months. When patients called for appointments, they were encouraged to use virtual care and when they searched the website, there were clear access points to care using video. Consumers tried telehealth because the health systems recommended it and then they grew to expect it as they would demand convenience from any industry.

‘Offering virtual care results in greater consumer satisfaction, improved patient outcomes, less provider burnout, and lower operating costs.’

As a decline in telehealth utilization begins, is the healthcare industry returning to the pre-pandemic habit of offering what is most convenient for the business rather than the consumer? Are people not utilizing telehealth as often simply because health systems are not directing patients to use it as an alternative as they were during the pandemic? Healthcare consumers have experienced ease of access, and they will not settle for less in this post-pandemic era. If video chat with a bank or insurance company is available, the same is expected from a healthcare provider.

At St. Luke’s Health System in Idaho and Oregon, patients thank us daily for offering telehealth. Individuals that have been delaying their care because they cannot take time off work or are busy caring for loved ones, can finally receive treatment at the moment they need it. We see not only patient benefits but business advantages with less provider burnout and lower operating costs. Watching telehealth evolve over the past three years tells me the main contributor to the utilization decrease is not from consumers preferring in-person care, it is from health systems changing the requirements and messaging to encourage the return of in-person care over telehealth options. If healthcare organizations want to improve outcomes by reducing emergency department visits and inpatient admissions, the choice of virtual care cannot be removed or reduced. If there is concern that not every condition can be treated virtually, offering the ability to speak to a healthcare provider for guidance on where they should be seen has changed the relationship between the consumer and healthcare organizations for the better. Even if healthcare systems choose to remain stuck on business value rather than consumer value, the answer is still clear. Offering virtual care results in greater consumer satisfaction, improved patient outcomes, less provider burnout, and lower operating costs.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, we are all enjoying the return to our ‘normal’ routines. Although there are many ways life as we know it should return to normal, we cannot ignore what the pandemic taught us about healthcare access. Telehealth is a viable option for the care of many conditions and must remain in the design of care infinitely. Telehealth may look different than during the public health emergency, but do not let the fear of failure impede the ability to try and continue to include telehealth in care offerings so consumers choose your organization for the best access and outcomes.