Telehealth portrays potential healthcare benefits
DENVER — Telehealth represents a burgeoning, business-building opportunity for pharmacy operators, one that has the potential to not only drive traffic into a store, but also to drive new customers into that store.
It’s a model fast gaining traction. HealthSpot partnered with Rite Aid 25 Ohio locations already has scheduled more than 8,600 in-store patient visits since opening in May, and Doctor on Demand averages approximately 1,000 patient visits per day — and for good reason. If a typical visit to the doctor took three hours out of a patient’s day, a typical telehealth interaction takes less than one hour.
Pharmacy represents a quintessential touchpoint for telehealth operators — 93% of Americans live within 5 miles of a pharmacy, making pharmacies that provide access to telehealth services a convenient and less-expensive option for those consumers who are assuming a greater portion of their individual healthcare costs. There’s also an opportunity to improve outcomes through telehealth/retail pharmacy partnerships. “Engagement is key,” noted Gail Borgatti Croall, chief medical officer at HealthSpot. “If you can engage consumers in their health care, you can make a difference and change outcomes. When you change outcomes, you lower costs.”
Telehealth and retail pharmacy together can support continuity of care across health platforms and provide preventive solutions like smoking cessation and weight loss or supply access to chronic disease management. “In terms of its potential impact on the [healthcare delivery] system, telehealth has an incredible ability to move the needle in our healthcare system,” said Pat Basu, chief medical officer and president of Doctor on Demand. “While it’s not a panacea, I do think that telehealth is probably one of four arrows in the quiver that really can expand access [to care] in a cost-effective manner.”
What’s more, many major doctor associations, including the American Medical Association, support telehealth models, Basu said, making retail pharmacy operators fielding in-store telehealth services attractive care partners for health systems. And in most states legislation supporting telehealth services have advanced the care model, Basu said, with slower adoption in Texas, Louisiana or Arkansas.