Value-Based Care Model Helps Secure Telehealth as a Constant

October 20, 2021 - Telehealth adoption skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and patients have discovered just how convenient virtual visits can be. This convenience, combined with the shift to value-based payment models, may cement telehealth as the preferred approach for healthcare delivery, according to a Polsinelli white paper. 

Telehealth has helped improve access to care and decrease healthcare costs, the law firm states in its four-page study, leading to a high rate of return on investment and increasing stakeholder interest. In addition, individuals have started using telehealth as more than just a one-off occurrence for when in-person appointments are not a convenient option. 

Payers like Aetna have launched virtual primary care programs in which patients can receive preventive and primary care via telehealth. Receiving regular care virtually can increase patient access to healthcare while providing a convenient and affordable option for patients, the authors noted.

Providers have also expanded the variety of telehealth offerings since the pandemic boosted its popularity. To name a few, patients can now receive behavioral health and oncology services via telehealth.

Using telehealth for comprehensive care also helps support the idea that both in-person care and virtual care can produce similar, quality outcomes.

The affordability of healthcare via telehealth is in part due to the value-based care model that payers and providers are shifting toward.

The fee-for-service payment model, which reimburses providers based on quantity rather than quality of care, is becoming more unpopular in the healthcare industry. The model can lead to high healthcare spending and does not prioritize the quality of patient care. 

“Telehealth and telemedicine upended the fee for service model and instead contemplate an industry where a value-based payment model could be the preferred model,” the authors wrote.

Healthcare mergers and acquisitions that have embraced telehealth are also focusing on ensuring that telehealth is reimbursed at the same rate as in-person services, as both modalities of care are equally valuable.  

Telehealth has proved its worth by producing similar outcomes as in-person care whether it be for chronic conditions like diabetes or post-operative physical therapy.

This combination of positive health outcomes and a value-based care model that reduces costs has changed the way that stakeholders invest in healthcare. 

Telehealth programs received $788 million in venture capital funding in the first quarter of 2020, which included the start of the pandemic. Later in the year, a number of healthcare organizations acquired remote patient monitoring and telehealth companies or invested in digital health startups.

“As these telehealth and telemedicine investments are added to portfolios, they will facilitate a business ecosystem in which telehealth and telemedicine businesses cross-pollinate with other investments within the portfolio and create more value,” the white paper stated. “These, and other similar deals, are expected to improve the overall quality of health care services by providing comprehensive services to patients.”

Mergers and acquisitions have allowed healthcare professionals to direct revenue toward telehealth services that would meet specific consumer needs, including the common preference for a one-stop shop for all healthcare needs, the authors wrote.

Telehealth promotes a value-based care model and provides a convenient method for patients to receive care, two things that are enough to alter the standards of the healthcare industry.

“Driven by patient preference and choice as well as lower costs, telehealth and telemedicine will continue to expand as the preferred mode of delivery of health care for an ever-increasing number of medical conditions which can safely be provided through such medium,” the white paper concluded.