That’s not to say the industry wasn’t already going through a digital transformation. Electronic health records (EHR) had already been increasingly supplanting paper-based systems, and telehealth solutions were gradually gaining traction as an additional way to offer convenience, portability and easy access by patients. But the pandemic accelerated mass adoption and changed the conversation around what patient care will look like moving forward.

According to McKinsey & Company, up to $250 billion of current U.S. healthcare spend could potentially be virtualized. Doing so would free up a vast amount of money that could be invested back into healthcare to fund critical research around preventative medicine and finding cures.

As we begin to take a step back to evaluate the impact Covid-19 has had on the healthcare industry, now is the time to examine how specialized video conferencing tools can improve patient care and provider efficiency while simultaneously reducing costs over time.

Beyond allowing for a more efficient way to triage patients with scheduled and ad hoc visits, video conferencing solutions can provide better continuity of care and patient outcomes through use cases around remote patient monitoring, support for first responders, emergency and urgent care providers, clinical education, remote clinical consultations, trainings and more.

For example, getting access to the best medical specialists and level of care is currently limited to those with the means and flexibility to do so. Telehealth brings experts in the field directly to patients, regardless of their location. Furthermore, if you have a smart phone, you can take a doctor appointment from wherever you are. It’s this ability to provide care without borders that will help create health equity in the coming years. 

A recent HIMSS Market Intelligence report found that 81% of healthcare organizations expect to see a greater investment in telehealth solutions over the next 2-3 years, with 85% of decision-makers identifying “ease of use” as a top-five driver in producing good outcomes from telehealth investments.

At BlueJeans by Verizon, we work closely with an advisory board of health system clinicians and healthcare decision-makers to ensure we are addressing the most pressing needs for a virtual-first telehealth offering.

What we hear consistently is that the future of remote care in a post-pandemic world is reliant on secure, smart accessibility that will help doctors make speedier diagnoses and recommend effective treatments for patients. And when that happens, we’ll cease to call it ‘remote’ or ‘virtual’ care—it will just become care.

We’re on the cusp of a healthcare transformation that will deliver new levels of patient-centric care that we could scarcely envision a few years ago, but to do so will require investments in telehealth and other digital solutions that balance security and ease-of-use equally.

The brighter future of connected health is upon us. The time to act is now.