Today's Practice: Changing the Business of Medicine TP2018Q2DigitalEditionWeb | Page 10

P R A CT I CE M A NA GE M E NT
Telehealth Implementation
So what can healthcare providers do to build and launch
a successful Telehealth program? The answer may vary
from provider to provider; however, there are a number
of key steps that can be taken to ensure a smooth and
successful Telehealth implementation.
Note: For the purposes of this article, the term “Telehealth”
refers to synchronous video consults between a patient and a
healthcare provider.
Define Success
First, providers must determine the goals of the
Telehealth program and define what “success” means.
What is the problem you are trying to solve? For some,
it may be increasing cost savings by decreasing the
number of missed appointments. For others, it may be
converting “on-call” moments or “triage” calls into
telehealth visits to drive new revenue. For others still, it
may be reducing the cost of care for patients, lowering
readmission rates, or improving patient satisfaction
through shorter wait times and greater flexibility.
Whatever your goals are, they must be clearly defined,
quantified, and agreed across your organization to
ensure program success.
For example, when CMS mandated that healthcare
providers implement an EMR, the goal was often clear
– to meet Meaningful Use criteria. When implement-
ing a Telehealth program, organizations are left to define
these goals for themselves. Just like any other instance
of goal setting, the outcome should be measurable and
achievable. For smaller provider organizations, it’s often
best to focus on specific milestones that can easily be
met and celebrated. Provider organizations should not
set out to achieve every goal at once, rather they should
prioritize these efforts and maintain focus on one or two
manageable goals at first.
Determine Strategy
“Investment” Planning: When designing the strategy,
it’s best to focus on “how” you will achieve a successful
Telehealth implementation. Like all other projects and
initiatives, a Telehealth implementation should be
viewed as a significant investment. Whether you are
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Ashley Amaral
spending millions of dollars to build a homegrown
solution or implementing a small-scale program with
little financial investment, organizations must under-
stand that there are major time, resource, and energy
investments that cannot be overlooked. How much
time are you prepared to invest across the organization?
Who will be involved? How difficult will this imple-
mentation be as an organization and for individuals?
Ensure your organization is prepared to endure the
implementation and committed to its success.
Scheduling:
One of the most critical steps in building an effective
Telehealth strategy will be to identify the scheduling
model.
Fundamentally, there are two different
approaches that can be taken: provider-directed sched-
uling or direct to consumer. In the direct to consumer
(DTC) model, patients decide when and with whom
they would like to see, requiring providers to open up
their schedule to patients, often times limiting the
amount of control they have over what patients they
see. In a provider-directed model, the provider main-
tains control over what patients they see, for what
reason, and when. Because the provider can more
easily control the visit parameters, this is typically a
more suitable model for initial stages of the program.
This model gives providers a chance to figure out what
works and what doesn’t, to identify what types of
patients and use cases are best suited for their practice,
and to adapt to a new technology in an already familiar
workflow. Once providers become more comfortable
with Telehealth and as more patients become aware of
the service, then it is easier to implement a DTC
model.
Use Cases and Patient Identification:
Once the scheduling model has been worked out and
agreed with the program leaders, organizations should
identify specific use cases and patients who will likely
be a strong fit for Telehealth. Tech savvy, younger
patients needing a prescription refill or routine
follow-up visits are great examples. Start small and
focus on quick wins. However, in order to achieve the
goals of the program, it will be critical to evaluate
progress often and expand scope as the program
matures.
TODAY ’ S P R A C T I C E : C H A N G I N G T H E B U S I NES S OF M EDI C I NE