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The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management WHITE PAPER 1

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The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management WHITE PAPER 1 The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management WHITE PAPER 1 The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management Differences Between Telemedicine management easier for patients, and improve the and Teleheath efficiency of the healthcare delivery network. Although the terms “telemedicine” and Within the broad category of telehealth, there are “telehealth” are often used interchangeably, there many discipline-specific subsets. For example, there is a distinction between the two. Telemedicine are telepsychology or telepsychiatry, telecardiology, refers solely to the provision of healthcare teleradiology, teleICU, and teledermatology, which services and education over a distance through the is one of the most common use cases for virtual use of communications technology. Telemedicine care. Finally, there’s telepharmacy, which will be the involves the use of electronic communications focus of this white paper. and software to provide clinical services to patients without an in-person visit. Telemedicine But whether we are talking about telemedicine or technology is frequently used for follow-up visits, telehealth discipline-specific subsets, the goals management of chronic conditions, medication are essentially the same: Make healthcare more management, specialist consultations, and a host accessible to people who live in rural or isolated of other clinical services that can be provided communities; make services more readily available remotely via secure video and audio connections. or convenient for people with limited mobility, time or transportation options; provide access The term telehealth, on the other hand, includes to medical specialists; improve communication a broad range of technologies and services to and coordination of care among members of the provide patient care and improve health and the healthcare team and patients; and provide support healthcare delivery system as a whole. Telehealth for self-management of healthcare. incorporates a broader scope of remote health services, including remote, non-clinical services; provider training; administrative meetings; and The Delivery of Teleheath continuing medical education. In addition to clinical As noted, the delivery of telehealth services is services, telehealth includes surveillance, health accomplished using a number of platforms and promotion, and public health functions. devices and can be performed in several ways, including the following: In short, all telemedicine is telehealth, but not all telehealth is telemedicine. Both are part of the larger effort to expand access to care, make health © 2020 Cureatr The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management 2 1. Video conferencing: Clinicians are often devices, smart apps, and internet-enabled conquering distance and providing access computers. RPM technologies remind to patients who are not able to travel by patients to complete tasks, such as weighing providing appointments using real-time themselves, and transmit the measurements video communication platforms, including to their doctors. Wearables and other the use of video scopes. Video conferencing electronic monitoring devices are being technology has been used to provide care used to collect and transfer vital sign data, for inmates, military personnel, and patients including blood pressures, cardiac stats, located in rural locations for quite some time. oxygen levels, and respiratory rates. Also, suppliers of care and financing, such as Kaiser Permanente,1 the Defense Department,2 4. mHealth. Finally, there’s the category and the Department of Veterans Affairs,3 mHealth (i.e., mobile health), which is the use have been leveraging telehealth modalities of smartphones and tablets for telehealth. to increase access to healthcare services and More than 95% of Americans now own promote better care quality. cell phones, of which more than 80% are smartphones.4 These and other mobile 2. “Store and forward”. This modality for devices can be leveraged to promote better delivering telehealth services refers to health outcomes and increased access the capture, storage, and transmittals of to care. mHealth also refers to healthcare patient health information for asynchronous applications and programs used by patients healthcare delivery using data storage and on their smartphones, tablets, and laptops. transmission technology. Examples include Such applications and programs allow CAT scans, MRIs, X-rays, photos, videos, patients to track health measurements, set and even text-based patient data which are medication appointment reminders, and gathered and sent to specialists and other share information with clinicians. Users can members of the care team to evaluate and access thousands of mHealth applications assist patients in their treatment. from asthma to diabetes management tools as well as weight loss and smoking 3. Remote patient monitoring (RPM). cessation applications. RPM involves the reporting, collection, transmission, and evaluation of patient health data through devices like wearables, mobile This is just a snapshot and a partial list of the available telehealth applications. What started off a few years back as a solution to address minor acute problems now plays a significant — and still growing — role across the care continuum.5 © 2020 Cureatr The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management 3 Benefits of Telehealth The following are six significant benefits 80% of study participants of telehealth. said it was easier to schedule a convenient appointment 1. Reduces impact of primary care shortage time for telehealth follow-up and scarcity of specialists. Telehealth visit than for a clinic visit. is allowing patients at smaller, less well- resourced hospitals to gain access to — Massachusetts General Hospital specialists based at larger regional facilities. Telehealth is being widely deployed in rural communities and underserved urban areas managing chronic conditions by about 10% to improve healthcare availability.6 while hospital in-home programs are seeing about 19% savings.9 2. Supports provider-to-provider communication. A significant development 4. Improves patient satisfaction. Patient approval is the use of digital and telecommunications for telehealth may trump in-person provision platforms among and between care providers. of care, particularly for patients who live far Care teams are enabled through telehealth away from the hospital, have demanding work technologies to more easily share information schedules, or have numerous family obligations. and collaborate in the treatment of patients. Primary care physicians are also using According to a telehealth study10 at telehealth platforms to consult with specialists Massachusetts General Hospital published in and other providers to promote access for the American Journal of Managed Care, nearly their patients in low provider availability areas. 80% of study participants said it was easier to schedule a convenient appointment time for 3. Lower Cost of Care. The cost savings from telehealth follow-up visit than for a clinic visit. telehealth has been significant for many Sixty-two percent of patients in that same study organizations. For example, patients enrolled said that the quality of care via telehealth was in a telemedicine program at Geisinger the same as in-person visits and 21% said that experienced 44% lower readmissions over 30 the quality of telehealth visits was superior days and 38% lower over 90 days compared to to in-person visits. Patients also recorded 7 those not enrolled in the programs. As another meaningful connections with their providers example, at Frederick Memorial Hospital, a even when using video visits. Nearly 65% said telehealth program for chronic care patients they had strong personal connections with their living at home cut emergency room visits in providers using telehealth and overall patient half, dramatically reduced hospitalizations, and satisfaction with telehealth was high. Seventy 8 cut overall treatment costs by about 50%. The percent rated their telehealth visits a nine or a American Telemedicine Association finds that 10 on a 10-point satisfaction scale. Furthermore, telemedicine is currently reducing the cost of The Los Angeles County Department of Health © 2020 Cureatr The Benefits of Telepharmacy on Improving Medication Management 4 Services began using e-consults in 2012 and survey,15 22% of physician respondents said they found e-consults reduced wait times for 12 have experience with video visits. Among those different specialties by an average of 17% in who have used the technology, 93% said they just three years.11 believed that telehealth improved patient’s access to care and nearly three quarters said that it allows 5. Higher employee productivity. This point both parties to more efficiently use their time. is of particular interest to self-insured employers.12 Less time getting to and waiting About 76% of hospitals in this country have at doctor’s offices and emergency rooms fully or partially implemented computerized means more time in the office to get work telehealth systems.16 That is up from only about done. An immediate impact of telehealth is 35% in 2010. Sixty-one percent of hospitals have eliminating the travel time and costs to and fully or partially implemented remote patient from clinics. In addition, time spent waiting monitoring, up for about 45% in 2015. In the at healthcare facilities adds up quickly and United States alone, the telehealth market is takes even
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