How Has COVID-19 Changed Healthcare Technology?

There’s no downplaying the horrific impact of COVID-19 on America and the world, with some 5.5 million people globally succumbing to the virus. To help respond to and slow the pandemic’s wave, healthcare technology experienced an influx of innovation, forever changing our country’s relationship to healthcare delivery. Once a luxury for some, telehealth—from telemedicine to remote patient monitoring and beyond—has quickly become a foundational element for what a post-COVID-19 healthcare system might become. 

Telehealth goes mainstream

Telehealth, which refers to the ecosystem of digital technology used in delivering medical care, has seen a breakthrough period of growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

One aspect of telehealth, telemedicine, which allows providers to see patients virtually, made monumental strides during the pandemic. In the first few months after the arrival of the virus in the U.S., studies show that telemedicine services grew by more than 1,000% in March and more than 4,000% in April of 2020. 

Access to providers is now better than ever

But telemedicine isn’t the only breakthrough in telehealth. Other telehealth services, including remote patient monitoring and digital patient evaluation and management, have both grown since the advent of the pandemic. 

Both technologies have eliminated access barriers to providers and made it easier for patients to reach providers who previously were out of touch. Remote patient monitoring uses “smart devices” like scales and blood pressure cuffs to connect patients and providers together in between appointments. And digital evaluation and management uses technology to make it easier for patients to update their provider on their adherence with their care plan. 

Convenient, smartphone-based technology like PainScript supports both types of telehealth services, making it easier than ever for patients to self-report their health status to their provider and receive medication reminders. 

Perhaps most importantly, telehealth is increasingly accepted by the public as a prerequisite for care. Research released in November 2021 found that some 40% of patients say they interact with their providers more because of telehealth.

Other forms of telehealth technology are connecting patients and providers in new and exciting ways. For example, wearable technology can now deliver patient vital signs and other critical health data to the provider in real-time. Ambulance crews in the Washington, DC area and elsewhere are now using telehealth technology to connect medical providers to patients directly during emergencies. PainScript supports real-time data collection, too, through a HIPAA-compliant dashboard.

The availability of personal health data

Telehealth is also solving an issue that has long been a challenge in healthcare: allowing patients to access their own personal health data more easily. 

In July 2020, a Pew Charitable Trusts survey found 81% of adults support increased access to health information for patients and providers. Further, about 40% of respondents said that COVID-19 “made them more likely to support efforts that enable data-sharing among a patient’s providers and let people download their personal data from EHRs to apps on smartphones and other devices.”

Just months before the release of that research, the federal 21st Century Cures Act went into effect, specifying that eight different types of clinical notes must be included in electronic documentation made available free of charge to patients. These include consultation notes, discharge summary notes, medical history and physical exam details, imaging narratives, laboratory report narratives, pathology report narratives, procedure notes, and progress notes. 

To help meet these demands, electronic health data companies have continued to develop new telehealth solutions. Smartphone-based apps like PainScript have allowed patients to self-report their own data directly to their provider, making it faster and easier for patients to manage their own health data. 

While we can’t predict the future of healthcare, there’s no doubt that COVID-19 has made telehealth critical to the advancement of medicine. As a digital healthcare platform proven to increase medication and care plan adherence, we’re a big believer in the power of telehealth to change lives. 

To learn more about PainScript, request a demo today.