6 Reasons Why Telemedicine Hasn’t Taken Off

There is uncertainty surrounding payment parity between telemedicine and in-person health services. Reimbursement and coverage regulations are already in place for in-person physician services, though there is still some ambiguity when it comes to telemedicine. Although 28 States in the USA have passed payment parity laws, enforcement is still a problem. This leads to a reluctance among healthcare professionals to sign up for telemedicine services, which ultimately defeats the purpose of reducing healthcare costs for people.

A physician has to take responsibility for misdiagnosing a patient in the event of any harm befalling the patient owing to this lapse in judgement. Liability laws for misdiagnoses are set in state legislatures to protect both doctors and patients, but primarily for in-person care. Those regarding telemedicine are still ambiguous; additionally, the risk of a misdiagnosis is greater when treating a patient remotely. This is another deterring factor, which prevents physicians from using telehealth technology to treat patients.

Training is crucial to a well-maintained and structured telemedicine program. It also requires installation of new IT systems and infrastructure, along with restructuring roles of IT staff and training physicians and nurses in the proper use of these systems. This could also involve a change in the number of roles within your healthcare unit. Additionally, there is also the expenditure involved. All this can put an organization off adopting telemedicine; it is an expensive and time-consuming process that involves a lot of changes.

One type of telemedicine is the ‘on-demand’ type, which connects a patient to different healthcare service provider at least most of the time. This prevents the patient from consulting only their primary healthcare physician. This affects care continuity and quality. A physician may not be able to access the patient’s records from other healthcare providers, which hampers the quality of care provided and poses a risk of misdiagnoses.

One of the biggest perceived drawback of telemedicine among physicians is the limitations that technology brings with it. For example, if a patient or physician loses internet connection during a session, it could be ‘patient mismanagement’. Likewise, technology becomes redundant quickly and newer inventions don’t come cheap. Healthcare organizations or physicians could be looking at a continuous and long-term investment in telemedicine technology.

Telemedicine has the potential to connect physicians and patients across the globe. However, this poses the question of licensure. Doctors and physicians are always permitted to practice only in certain regions, States or geographical areas. Hence, they cannot breach their license and treat a patient outside their jurisdiction. Some healthcare organizations issue licenses allowing physicians to practice in multiple areas, hence enabling patients to connect via technology. However, this is a tedious process and a hospital or physician will need to put in restrictions and protocols for treating patients depending on the geographical area.