Telemedicine EMR Software adaptation rates increased drastically due to the global pandemic throughout the United States. Telemedicine offered effective and prompt patient diagnosis without having to visit the doctor’s office, reducing the spread of the virus and keeping both patients and healthcare providers safe. It is estimated that people are using remote healthcare services up to 175 times more as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. That being said, there are a few barriers and challenges when it comes to Telemedicine technology implementation in 2021.
Top 5 Telemedicine adaptation challenges to know in 2021
The telemedicine market without a doubt is booming, according to the 2020 McKinsey survey, 46% of patients used telemedicine services for canceled doctor visits in contrast to 11% in 2019. While telemedicine adaptation rates are increasing the challenges are slowing down the mass execution process in hospital and healthcare organizations.
- Reimbursements – The 2020 Telehealth Impact Study Physician Survey revealed that more than 73% of the healthcare organizations believe that reimbursement will be a great challenge with telemedicine once the lockdowns are finally lifted. The regulatory environment is unfavorable and thus providers have their inhibitions to invest in telemedicine EMR Software solutions.
- Diagnosis Precision – Telemedicine technology can impact the accuracy of diagnosis. A missed diagnosis can negatively affect both providers and patients leading to wrong prescriptions and treatments. To avoid misdiagnosis, some providers are reluctant in using remote care services.
- Patient Data Security – Data breaches are on the rise since digital care is also increasing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, phishing attacks and ransomware attacks have increased by 350%. Telemedicine uses video conferencing tools which poses a threat for a rise in cybercrimes. To keep security high healthcare organizations need to invest in encrypted technology and interoperability functionalities. It is advised to always deploy a HIPAA compliant Telemedicine EMR Software platform for robust security round the clock.
- Strict Rules and Regulations – One of the major challenges to telemedicine implementation are strict rules and regulations. With any medical software system, the telemedicine technology needs to meet HIPAA Compliance for Meaningful Use HIPAA violations can lead to penalties for the provider and sometimes can result in criminal charges. Due to the public health emergency, HIPAA laws have been relaxed so more providers can use the technology to reach out to patients however, these simplified HIPAA requirements are temporary.
- Reluctance in using new technology solutions – This is true in the case for both patients and doctors. There might be resistance to using virtual care solutions. Patients who are old and aren’t tech-savvy might feel uncomfortable using telemedicine technology particularly if the user interface and unintuitive and difficult to use.
Conclusion
Fortunately, the barricades mentioned above can be tackled. If you as a provider are uncomfortable with technology you can get some training to get hands down with the new platform and also use intuitive interfaces for easy navigation. It is always advised to use a HIPAA compliant telemedicine EMR Software system to safeguard patient data and protect your practice from heavy fines in the future. Without a doubt, telemedicine has helped care providers reach out to patients despite geographical boundaries to offer prompt treatment options in these trying times.
