Virtual Care, Real Results: Enhancing Chronic Care with Telehealth-Enabled Solutions

Bhushan Vanjari
May 8, 2024
1:34 pm
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Almost 10% of the clinics in the United States have adopted telehealth in 2020 and 2022!

The number has seen a significant rise since then, making telehealth a trend in the modern-day healthcare landscape. Telehealth has bridged the accessibility gap between care providers and patients and enabled the digital shift in healthcare practices.

And if someone is to benefit from this, almost 42% of the total US population suffers from chronic conditions.

How? Let’s connect the dots!

In 2015, with relevance to the growing number of people suffering from chronic conditions, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) started the Chronic Care Management program. It aimed to reduce the burden on healthcare providers and also lower the cost of healthcare services.

The main USP of this program was that it enabled patients and providers to connect virtually for consultation and manage their conditions. In an attempt to bring healthcare services on a virtual platform, the program required chronic care management software.

Though the chronic care management software covered all the basic necessities for managing chronic conditions, it had to rely on telehealth abilities for virtual consultation. And that is the role of telehealth integration in chronic care management software.

But it is not just limited to that!

Let’s explore how telehealth integration enhances the chronic care management software for better managing chronic conditions.

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The Midway Out - Telehealth in Chronic Care Management

Traditionally, managing chronic care has been reactive in nature, similar to that of managing any health condition. It meant that care would be taken as a part of the reaction to the disease; this in itself made managing chronic conditions difficult for care providers.

Apart from that, since a large portion of the US population is suffering from two or more chronic conditions, managing multiple conditions in a traditional healthcare landscape would naturally be challenging. This brought challenges like managing the medications, continuous monitoring, and lagging back between tests, results, diagnosis, and treatment.

The cost of successfully addressing the growing need for long-term care seemed fairly high. However, finding a mid-way-out telehealth integration in chronic care management solved almost all of the problems, from bringing convenience to providing and receiving healthcare services to bringing down the overall cost of care for both patients and providers.

This created a win-win situation in chronic care management, and as it turns out, it brought many more benefits along the way.

Benefits of Telehealth Integration in CCM

1. Virtually Connecting Patients and Providers

If you’re still reading this, then you must have figured out the major benefit of telehealth integration in chronic care management software. In simple words, telehealth integration allows patients and providers to securely connect virtually.

Don’t you think this has made consultation much easier?

On the one hand, you virtually provide healthcare services, and on the other, you leverage the power of chronic care management to continuously monitor patients and make data-backed, informed healthcare decisions.

Along with that, one of the major concerns is that it also solves the major problem in traditional healthcare practices by bridging the accessibility gap in the healthcare landscape. This improved the access to care services by avoiding the need to visit hospitals for continuous monitoring, adding the factor of convenience to the care services being delivered.

2. Streamline Patient Management and Communication

Telehealth integration not only allows healthcare providers to connect with patients but also allows them to facilitate real-time communication with their team members. The feature of secure messaging allows them to coordinate better during the monitoring process, and the real-time updates provided to the provider enable them to stay all over the care plan and patient’s journey.

Solving the patients’ two major problems in their care journey facilitates the easy sharing of information with better management of complex chronic conditions.

3. Monitoring Patient Health Remotely

It might sound a little off the topic, but telehealth integration goes beyond providing virtual consultations. A successful telehealth integration combines well with the unique features of chronic care management software to bring ease in providing healthcare facilities.

How? Let’s find its answer in the technicalities:

On the surface, telehealth integration typically includes video conferencing, phone calls, remote monitoring devices, and patient portals. Its combination with these tools enables the gathering of valuable patient vitals and other health data to deliver better care. By enabling remote consultation, it covers various aspects of a patient’s healthcare journey like check-ins, medication reviews, and symptom monitoring via video or phone.

Long story short, it improves communication and enables real-time patient monitoring with remote consultation. This directly impacts the patient-provider relationship, increasing their engagement, which plays a major factor in improving patient outcomes. Keeping the major benefit for the last, remote monitoring facilitates the patient’s preventive care journey from day one, so a holistic approach is taken.

4. Empowering Patients in Self-care

In a nutshell, telehealth integration in chronic care management software lays the foundation of communications, and the convenience it brings by providing different modes of communication is simply remarkable for increasing patient engagement.

For example, the CCM software allows the patient to facilitate conversations with the providers in real time. They also get the freedom to choose a mode of communication that they are comfortable with, which is usually missing in traditional healthcare practices.

This small attention to patient convenience empowers them to proactively participate in their care journey. Since telehealth integration opens two-way communication channels, it empowers patients in their care journey, which directly or indirectly leads to better treatment adherence and proactively self-managing their health, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes.

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Security and Compliance Considerations

Telehealth and chronic care management software combined make the healthcare journey much easier for both parties. However, its digital nature makes it prone to security threats and data breaches. Failing to make the healthcare platform can put the patient data at risk, which can question the credibility of the software and also compromise the patient’s fundamental rights.

Since most of the healthcare providers looking to start the chronic care management program are not tech professionals, the regulatory bodies have formed a set of guidelines and compliances.

Some of the major regulatory compliances that you must adhere to are:

HIPAA Compliance
GDPR
Interoperability standards like HL7 and FHIR
Robust APIs for authorized access

Adhering to these compliances and security measures mentioned above, you can solve most of the challenges related to security and compliance. For instance, your data is secured with the system being resistant to data breaches, unauthorized access, and data transmission to enhance security.

Challenges & Solutions in Telehealth Integration

It is telehealth integration that makes the chronic care management software so lucrative in nature. However, there are several challenges that you should overcome for successful and widespread adoption. Some of the most common challenges and their possible solutions are given below:

Interoperability: Achieving interoperability is one of the major challenges in the entire digital healthcare landscape. It enables a smooth flow of information from one system to another. The inability of healthcare systems not being able to communicate efficiently can create data silos and hinder information exchange. However, the best solution to achieve interoperability is to follow the standard data formats like HL7 and FHIR.

Clinical Workflow Adoption: Every clinical practice functions in a unique pattern that is distinct from other practices. Most of the clinical look to adopt the same workflow in virtual care as well. This makes it difficult for telehealth to be successfully integrated with chronic care management software. The best way to overcome this is by defining the workflow of the software with respect to your clinical practice and providing extensive hands-on training to the staff for successful implementation.

Device Compatibility: Remote patient monitoring devices make up a major portion of chronic care management programs and software. Here, it is important to understand that not all of the RPM devices integrate successfully with the CCM software, which can limit data collection and further processes. However, this problem can be easily overcome by choosing the right RPM devices that are compliant with FDA regulations and also compatible with your CCM software.

Digital Literacy: The older generation, who are used to traditional healthcare practices, finds it difficult to adapt to digital means of healthcare due to a lack of digital literacy. This restricts them from using telehealth tools comfortably and effectively. Though it might sound like a major issue, a major population lacks digital literacy, especially in healthcare. On the bright side, it can be easily overcome with additional training and support.

Future Trends in Telehealth & CCM

Looking at the recent advancements in technologies, it is not a secret that advanced technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, etc., are going to define the future of the healthcare industry.

The impact of telehealth with chronic care management can be that catalyst, enhancing the care journey of patients with convenience and better and faster results. For example, one of the possible applications of AI and ML will be further automating the repetitive process and enhancing the communications of the entire healthcare team, including the patients, making it more coordinated and connected.

On the other hand, blockchain technology can be used to enhance security with authorized access and the security of patient data in the CCM software.

Conclusion

Integrating telehealth with chronic care management software is beyond just simplifying and enhancing the communications channels in the CCM software. In the current digital healthcare landscape, especially in chronic care, it is what facilitates major components of care, which are coordinated care and data-based care delivery, allowing you to give a human touch in the virtual landscape.

As the upcoming generation prefers to receive healthcare services digitally, it is only logical for healthcare practices to explore the telehealth options in chronic care management and adopt them for better and faster care delivery.

So, what’s stopping you from going digital? Let’s start your transformation journey today with eCareMD.

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Frequently Asked Question’s

1. What is telehealth integration, and how does it enhance chronic care management?

Telehealth integration in chronic care management software allows providers to connect with patients directly from the system. It enhances CCM by enabling virtual consultations between the patient and provider.

2. What are the key benefits of telehealth integration in chronic care management?

Some of the key benefits of telehealth integration in chronic care management are:

Reduced geographical barriers

Increased appointment flexibility

Reduced wait times

Remote monitoring

Improved communication

Reduced healthcare costs

Improved care coordination

3. What tools and strategies can healthcare providers use to promote patient engagement in chronic care management through telehealth?

Healthcare providers can use the following tools and strategies to promote patient engagement in CCM through telehealth:

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)
Patient portals
Mobile health apps
Personalized care plans
Shared decision-making
Regular communication

4. What measures are in place to ensure data security and patient privacy in telehealth-CCM integration?

Ensuring data security and patient privacy in telehealth-CCM integration is done by encryption and authentication. Along with that, making the software HIPAA compliant and compliant with other regulations will add another layer of security.

5. How can healthcare providers get started with telehealth integration in chronic care management?

Here are five steps to get started with telehealth integration in chronic care management:

Assess Needs and Feasibility
Develop a Telehealth Implementation Plan
Address Regulatory and Compliance Requirements
Prepare Staff and Patients
Implement and Monitor

6. What are the potential challenges or barriers to telehealth integration in chronic care management, and how can they be addressed?

Telehealth in CCM faces hurdles like technology access, digital literacy gaps, data security concerns, and ensuring equitable access for all. Addressing these through training, user-friendly tools, robust security measures, and targeted outreach can bridge the gap.

7. How can telehealth integration in chronic care management contribute to addressing healthcare disparities and improving access to care?

Telehealth bridges geographical and logistical barriers, offering convenient access to chronic care for underserved communities. Remote monitoring and communication empower patients to manage their conditions, potentially reducing disparities in health outcomes.