Emergency Physicians Monthly - By Jesse Pines on April 11, 2016
"Tomorrow’s technology is starting to address some of the growing pains of early telemedicine, putting ED physicians in the ideal role to lead healthcare’s digital transformation.
If you haven’t noticed, the way people get care when they are ill or injured is rapidly evolving. With new payment models moving away from fee-for-service, expanding quality metrics, pay-for-performance, and massive growth in telemedicine, urgent care centers, and retail clinics, this year and beyond will be a brave new world for emergency department (ED) physicians.
One of the areas of greatest growth and entrepreneurship is direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine: where patients initiate video calls with providers using their personal devices—be it phones, tablets or personal computers. The promise is a super-convenient, inexpensive connection with a provider, usually with a low out-of-pocket price. Teladoc (TDOC) is one of the largest providers of DTC telemedicine and hit its millionth visit in October 2015. While a million visits may seem high, in reality it’s minuscule compared to the potential acute care market with more than 130 million annual ED visits, and more than a billion outpatient visits in the United States.
In their marketing materials, Teladoc suggests that their DTC telemedicine visits provide a cost-effective alternative to brick and mortar clinics, and even ED care, which is described as “unnecessary” and “egregiously” priced..."