Two weeks ago, like many others, I watched the stock market reaction to COVID-19 with interest. Although the entire market did poorly, there were some notable market actions, including early market activity indicating an increased focus on telemedicine-based companies such as Teladoc and Zoom.
The analyst discussion surrounding these companies focused on their ability to support medical care without risking additional exposure to the virus, and with the most US adults reporting comfortability with telemedicine as a treatment for certain types of issues, this area is likely to become more important in the coming weeks.
Telemedicine Is Nothing New
Although telemedicine is over a decade old, Michael Barnett and his team found in a study conducted between 2005 and 2017 that there was substantial growth in its utilization. This growth is likely due to drivers including companies seeking to lower overall costs, technology advances, demographic shifts, and increased acceptance of telemedicine by The American College of Physicians and other professional groups.
Humana, GoodRX, and UnitedHealthcare are examples of companies already providing forms of telehealth and looking to discover what works and what doesn’t. Concentra is another—the company offers telemedicine focused on injuries in the workplace; injured employees can seek treatment and assessment through their smartphones or personal computers. Similarly, Workpartners uses telemedicine to enable employees to communicate with health-care providers directly from their worksites.
In addition, large employers such as Walmart, with offerings such as a partnership with Doctor On Demand, Grand Rounds, and HealthSCOPE Benefits, and Amazon, with services like its Amazon Care offering, which offers remote primary care app, are extending coverage for telehealth treatment.
Remote Care Options Are Likely to Grow
The workers’ comp industry has several immediate options available to it in this sphere, and insurers in these areas don’t need to build these services from the ground up. But insurers looking to improve their telehealth offerings will need to emphasize their strategic planning and be sure their architecture is agile enough to support easy integration.
In 2017, I wrote about some medical technology developments which could impact the workers’ comp industry. Telemedicine was one of the technologies I highlighted. While there is still more to develop in the telemedicine practice, shifting to this form of care will have long-term implications. It will redefine patient expectations and the availability of medical care, which has further implications for workers’ comp managed care. It will likely not impact the initial care of a workers’ comp injury, but the follow-up and pain management aspects of injuries incurred on the job are clearly open to transformation.
The stock market’s recent drop signaled that the economic and cultural impact of COVID-19 is not an “if” but a “when.” The telemedicine market in the US is already projected to grow to as much as $35B by 2025; this latest global health crisis may see that grow by even more. Strategic planning and strong architecture continue to be the best way to prepare for this potential shift in care delivery.
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