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

TV Platforms Benefit From Easy Cancellation Policies

Month-to-month digital media analysts continue to follow “churn” issues — entertainment consumers who drop or add services. A 2018 Parks Associates report says about 18% of U.S. broadband households c...

The Streaming Video-on-Demand War Is Going to Get Bloody

Brett Sappington, an analyst with Parks Associates, a market research and consulting company, says that though annual cancellation rates among traditional cable and satellite distributors hover around...

Netflix, HBO and Cable Giants Are Coming for Password Cheats

The pay-TV industry is projected to lose $6.6 billion in revenue from password sharing and piracy this year, according to Parks Associates. By 2024, the number could grow to $9 billion, the research f...

Fox News Streaming Service Seeks Broader Audience With Hunting and True-Crime Shows

Finding the right streaming formula is a key test for Fox, even if it’s still early days. Fox Nation currently has 200,000 to 300,000 subscribers, according to research firm Parks Associates. (Compare...