But that’s not the only issue affecting today’s patients. Costs are rising, too: the average visit with a primary care doctor costs $100, $130 with a specialist, $155 with an urgent care center, and over $1,300 for each emergency room visit.  With 63% of Americans reporting that they have difficulty reaching their primary care physician during nights, weekends, and holidays, more and more patients are taking expensive trips to the emergency room to be seen for non-emergency health issues.

Innovation in the healthcare sector is crucial to face the challenges and bring high quality, affordable, easily accessible care to patients of all ages across the country. Telemedicine is one powerful way to achieve this. Thanks to modern telecommunications technology—including phone, text, email, video conferencing, and mobile applications—patients and healthcare providers are able to connect one-on-one for a multitude of health care needs.  Today, Telemedicine has eliminated wait times, unnecessary costs, and the logistical complications of scheduling appointments and traveling to the nearest clinic or office.  Here are the facts:

• Studies show as much as 70% of all doctor office and emergency room visits are unnecessary and could have been resolved with a consultation with a doctor by phone video conference, or email.
• Telemedicine addresses 73% of the top 25 most common conditions.
• Telemedicine physicians prescribe 82% of the top 25 most common medications.
• 15 million Americans have access to Telemedicine today, but 32-40 million more will have gained access by 2020.
• Telemedicine has a 98% satisfaction rate with users, and a 94% resolution rate (no further care needed for the issue addressed.*)
• By 2020, the American Telemedicine Association has estimated the industry to be a $6.7 billion dollar domestic business.**

To further drive the Telehealth industry, clinical-grade “Telemedicine devices” are arriving to fill the examination void.  Advanced, affordable micro-technology will continue to be engineered to allow providers to “examine” patients from the comfort of their homes.  Today, every household could purchase clinical devices that they would use the same way we do thermometers.  There are otoscopes, stethoscopes and blood pressure collars that all attach to a smartphone and whose data can be conveyed through a HIPAA-compliant server.  This is more than just a video conference feature, new Telemedicine technology actually allows “listening” to vital organs, high-definition inspection of tissues, “direct” visualization of ear canals and tonsils, and of course, the ability to monitor basic vitals. Many such medical-grade devices have already gone through, or are currently going through, FDA certification as well as exhaustive processes to ensure accuracy, privacy, and ease-of-use.   A patient sitting in their bedroom is now able to get a “physical examination” from a doctor with a device that costs less than a cell phone. In some cases, the cell phone itself will double as an examination device. When it comes to medical practice, a new, technology-enabled world has arrived.

*Gustke, S.S., Balch, D.C., West, V.L., and Rogers, L.O. 2000. Patient satisfaction with telemedicine. Telemedicine Journal Spring 6(1): 5-13.

**Jonathan Linkous, Chief Executive Officer,  American Telemedicine Association;12-6-15.