Last week, Parks Associates hosted its Connected Health Summit series, with virtual sessions highlighting new consumer health data and industry insights examining connected solutions in the digital health markets.
During the session, Virtual Health and Remote Monitoring, Jennifer Kent, VP Research, Parks Associates, was joined by industry executives to discuss the incredible growth in demand for telehealth services and connected health devices, and how that changes the future of healthcare delivery. Kent’s presentation, Virtual Care Growth and New Expectations, highlighted Parks Associates’ latest exclusive data and shared insights on the growing demand for telehealth, driven by social distancing measures during COVID-19.
In April of this year, 64% of consumers reported they participated in a virtual visit of some sort in the prior twelve months, up from just 15% in 2019. There are also similar jumps in familiarity, where 49% of adults now consider themselves “highly familiar” with telehealth, compared to 30% the same time last year.
“If we’re looking for indications that telehealth services are here to stay,” Kent said, “our data absolutely indicates that consumers want and likely will expect telehealth to be available to them going forward.”
The Virtual Health and Remote Monitoring session also featured a visionary presentation from Susan Taylor, Director External Affairs, Scripps Health which highlighted use cases involving Scripps’ services and connected health devices. Through them, Taylor emphasized that successful patient care involves virtual health devices and compassionate care from providers. “Gadgets alone don’t make for great patient care,” Taylor said. “At Scripps, we have also implemented some pretty low tech but highly compassionate patient-centric ways to take care of you.”
The session ended with a panel discussion on benefits of virtual healthcare and next steps in the industry. The panel, moderated by Kent, featured industry leaders from Northwell Health, Validic, Everise, Amwell, and Doctor on Demand.
“Virtual medical care is here to stay—I have felt this strongly for nine years now,” said Mia Finkelston,MD, Medical Director, Amwell. “The ease of use, low cost, and efficiency make it a necessary option for modern Healthcare. Now let’s make sure that people have access when they need it and that ALL clinicians see and believe in its utility and quality.”
To learn more about user experience with telehealth services and consumer appetite for virtual care as a standard offering watch theVirtual Health and Remote Monitoring session here.
Register for the Connecting the Dots: Interoperability and Health Data session, to join Parks Associates, the US Department of Health and Human Services and other industry leaders on December 1 at 12:30 p.m. CT
