With the next year poised to be an explosive year for telemedicine, five key factors are the chief driving forces behind the expected growth. As Managed Health Care Executive reports, “The global telemedicine market is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 14.3% over the next five years, eventually reaching $36.2 billion, compared to $14.3 billion in 2014.” They claim the following reasons explain why the boom will be so significant.
“Reimbursement on the rise”
With private insurance providers rapidly adopting coverage for telehealth the concern is mostly on the public side. This will change if the Medicare Telehealth Parity Act of 2015 becomes law as it will expand coverage from strictly rural areas to other locations.
“International expansion”
The demand for American trained doctors is booming globally. With partnerships between U.S. facilities and international telehealth clinics, there will be international access to physicians combined with the ability to study rare or regional conditions as well as providing access to better sample populations for research.
“Momentum at the state level”
As of January 2016, 29 states and Washington D.C. have enacted legislation that guarantees some level of private insurance coverage for telemedicine services.
“Retailer and employer expansion of healthcare”
With a growing interest in saving on health care as employers face a projected 6% increase in costs under the Affordable Care Act, telemedicine has been incorporated as a means of cutting costs. With the public more receptive to telemedicine CVS and other retailers are implementing telemedicine booths in their stores.
“The proliferation of accountable care organizations”
Medicare Accountable Care Organizations are expected to widely increase use of telemedicine in 2016. In order to qualify for monetary incentives by increased cost efficiency, many of these organizations will use telemedicine to deliver budget-friendly, high-quality healthcare.
“Smart health systems that have already implemented telehealth services are finding that it generates revenue, drives cost savings and improves the quality of care and patient satisfaction.” With these five forces, expect the adoption of telemedicine services to accelerate in 2016.
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