Online healthcare can be defined as the provision of healthcare services and treatment completely through the internet. Recently, the online healthcare industry has seen rapid growth, with surveys suggesting that as many as 60% of healthcare users had at least one online visit within the last two years. Furthermore, these surveys showed that 71% of these patients experienced their first online healthcare visit since 2020. Over half of these patients say they are more likely to visit an online healthcare specialist post-pandemic. This, in part, explains how the industry is fast approaching the size and revenue of the in-person healthcare sector. In this short article, we discuss the specifics of online healthcare, including its benefits, coverage, and accessibility.
Simply put, online healthcare is a healthcare service that allows patients to interact with and receive treatment from a physician via the internet. Online healthcare requires minimal-to-none in-person clinic visits and can be completed from a patient’s preferred location.
Telehealth allows patients to discuss symptoms, conditions, progress, and treatment with medical professions through the use of text, video, online portals, and email communication. Most online providers can diagnose and treat conditions, prescribe medications, and even provide healthcare plans for employers, employees and individuals. When necessary, some online healthcare companies can also process and deliver subscriptions to a patient’s preferred pharmacy.
Online healthcare is a broad field that can often be divided into three specific subsets: interactive medicine, remote patient monitoring, and store and forward.
Interactive medicine allows patients, doctors, and therapists to communicate with one another in real time in an effort to treat a condition. Often, this involves video calls between patients and specialists in which doctors give advice, receive updates, and prescribe next steps for patients.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM), also referred to as remote psychological monitoring, involves the use of technology to record patients’ medical data and transmit healthcare recommendations, instructions, and prescriptions. Many RPM patients are given medical equipment with which they can collect data on blood pressure, blood sugar, and other health conditions. Patients can then send their data to their remote physician through electronic communication. When used effectively, RPM can drastically reduce the number of hospital visits for patients and allow older, less-abled patients to continue to live at home while receiving healthcare remotely.
In recent years, remote patient monitoring has gained popularity as a time-efficient and adaptable healthcare service. This growth can be attributed, in part, to changes in the Current Procedural Technology (CPT) codes, a set of parameters for remote, home-based healthcare programs. These recent adaptations to the code made RPM more accessible by relaxing the limits of its use.
Online healthcare can treat a variety of conditions, making it especially useful for patients who have a condition which makes it difficult for them to leave their house. Most online healthcare programs are available at much lower costs than the financial burden of traditional, in-person healthcare. Though there are many, here are four of the most prominent benefits of online healthcare.
Insurance coverage for online healthcare is often determined by federal and state laws as well as insurance company policy. As of 2022, 26 states have legally required private health insurers to reimburse healthcare providers for telehealth services. In addition, ten other states are considering or will soon pass similar legislation. While each state is affected by these laws in different ways, the general stipulations state that online healthcare providers cannot take patient location into account when deciding whether or not to cover an online healthcare visit.
Virtual care is a broader term that encompasses all the ways in which healthcare providers remotely interact with their patients. Services that fall under the virtual care umbrella include live video chat, audio calls, and instant messaging between providers and patients. Examples of these services often include checking in with a patient after a visit, responding to patient questions, and checking vitals after a diagnosis, surgery, or treatment.
Online healthcare, on the other hand, usually only refers to communication directly related to the treatment of a condition. Most online healthcare professionals do, however, engage in virtual care to augment their patients’ online healthcare experiences.
Online healthcare is conducted entirely through the internet and has become increasingly popular in recent years. Many online healthcare providers offer a variety of services including virtual primary care, healthcare video chats, and remote patient monitoring.
