Moreover, a growing number of studies have shown that virtual health can improve health outcomes, reduce costs, reduce unnecessary utilization (such as nonurgent visits to the emergency room), improve adherence to medication and other protocols, and improve patient satisfaction. Virtual health services can also offer important benefits to the health care system more broadly: the opportunity for rural clinicians to learn from specialists, and for rural hospitals to retain vital revenue and enhance the quality of their services. This story is emblematic of some of the challenges facing rural communities, and how virtual health could improve health care access for rural residents. And thousands of dollars were saved in helicopter transfer costs. Her parents were able to stay in their community with their three other children, rather than being separated from their newborn and having to travel long distances each time they went to see her in the NICU. As a result, Martina was able to fully recover with very little treatment, and has grown into an active and healthy toddler. Luckily, the local hospital had just joined a virtual hospital service: Martina’s parents were given the option to have a remote neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) physician monitor the newborn via two-way video conference. The standard protocol would have been to put Martina in a helicopter and transport her to the nearest tertiary care facility, more than 150 miles away, so that a specialist could assess whether an intervention was, in fact, needed. But this rural hospital wasn’t equipped to handle rare conditions such as the one Martina was experiencing, and no such specialist was on hand. Neonatal events like these sometimes require an intervention other times they heal on their own-a call that a neonatal specialist needs to make. Shortly after her birth, her doctors detected a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung. Martina was born in a hospital in rural Nebraska. Virtual health The opportunity for rural communities By helping to build connectivity, simplifying the process of applying for funding, and driving the adoption of value-based care, government agencies can enable and support rural communities as they use virtual health to help bridge the rural-urban health divide. The role of government is critical as well. In order to see the potential of virtual health realized, public and private organizations should work together to align incentives, leverage scarce resources, share best practices, and create economies of scale. While health care organizations will need to take the lead, they won’t be able to do it alone. Just like clinicians, patients should be educated on the benefits of virtual health, and how to use the new technology. Virtual health should be integrated into a seamless and coordinated delivery process across different providers, services, and settings. Create new workflows, care models, and risk mitigation protocols.To help win over key stakeholders, leaders can emphasize the benefits to patients and clinicians and teach the workforce to use the new technology. Making virtual health a mainstream aspect of rural care will require significant buy-in from-and investment in-the health care workforce. Hardware and software investments are core to any virtual health program, but health care organizations should also pay attention to interoperability and investments that should be made in cognitive technologies and analytics. Invest in data and technology infrastructure.In addition, organizations should build partnerships and networks with other entities. Having a coordinated strategy and a centralized governance structure within the health care organization are critical to the success of any virtual health program. Develop a strategy, governance structure, and partnerships.Before starting a virtual health program, leaders should conduct a needs assessment of the organization and the population it serves to identify the most appropriate virtual health solutions, current technological capabilities, future technological needs, and how to bridge the gap. Our analysis is based on interviews with more than a dozen rural health care experts and reviews of secondary literature.īelow are six key steps leaders of health care organizations should consider as they build their virtual health programs: In this report, we lay out some of the key steps rural health care organizations-including critical access hospitals, federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, and tertiary care facilities-should consider when delivering virtual health in rural settings, and what government can do to support and enable rural communities in this capacity. This article is featured in Deloitte Review, issue 27 Explore the Government & public services collection
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