Telemedicine is the new standard in health care. Today, clinics and hospitals all over the country are providing medical services through telemedicine software. So what are the telemedicine trends we can expect to see as remote patient care continues?

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Telemedicine is a popular medium of care delivery that allows medical practitioners to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients efficiently without meeting in person. The National Library of Medicine defines telemedicine as, “the delivery of medical care and provision of general health services from a distance.”

Given how promising telemedicine is, the future looks bright. We’ve pooled our research and prepared this list of upcoming telemedicine trends.

Read on.

What This Article Covers:

• Key Takeaways
• Background
• Trends
  • EHR-embedded Telecare
  • mHealth
  • Digital-first Approach
  • 5G
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Augmented Reality (AR/VR)
  • Cloud
• Conclusion

Key Takeaways

• North America is the largest telemedicine market as of 2022.
• Across the U.S., more than 50% of health institutions provide telemedicine services.
• Digital health funding reached an all-time high of $26.5 billion in 2020.
• Since 2019 telemedicine adoption has skyrocketed. In 2022, 46% of consumers will choose telemedicine as their primary mode of care.
• The global telemedicine market is expected to reach $460 billion by 2030, up from $50 billion in 2019.
• As of 2021, 76% of U.S. hospitals connect with patients through video appointments.

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Learning Telemedicine Trends

The sudden halt of in-person visits introduced a huge shift in health care towards telehealth and telemedicine. This not only changed the way patients received and interacted with care providers but also the perspective of care delivery as a whole.

That said, there are large patient populations who refrain from telemedicine. Health care providers need to be smart about fulfilling individual patient needs.

Hybrid health care is here to stay. The telemedicine industry is growing at a rapid pace as adoption numbers are at an all-time high. And there’s more health care funding than ever before.

According to a report published by CB Insights, digital health funding reached $26.5 billion as of 2020, the highest it’s been.

From increased adoption to providing care in rural areas, telemedicine is growing rapidly. Thanks to new technological innovations and newer applications of AI, IoT and more.

Using telecommunications software alleviates patients’ struggles to visit doctors by covering huge distances. Instead, they can connect on video call and seldom visit the clinics for tests.

Today, patients look for medical providers who can meet their unique needs without much hassle. First and foremost, they look for a streamlined experience without any hiccups. Care providers are working around the clock to brainstorm new services that will please patients and aid retention.

Here, the trends come into play. In 2022, telemedicine is widely used worldwide and patients are actively adopting it as their primary care delivery method. Understanding the trends is important to determine where this growing market is heading as we move towards 2024.

Therefore, the list below will help you understand and take a step ahead of the competitors. Stay tuned.

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Top Trends

Multiple factors are boosting telemedicine’s rise in the medical world. During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients with chronic diseases needed an alternative to traditional care for continuous monitoring and treatment. Therefore, health care organizations adopted telehealth and telemedicine to deliver care remotely.

Since then, newer telemedicine trends are continuously evolving, creating the right platform for it to grow into a force to be reckoned with. And the market is expanding to accommodate these evolving trends.

The global telemedicine market, valued at $50 billion in 2019, is expected to reach $460 billion by 2030 due to growing trends. North America holds the largest share of the market, showing just how prevalent telemedicine is today.

So what are the trends driving such growth in the telemedicine market?

Let’s have a look at the different telemedicine trends creating a buzz today.

1. EHR-embedded Telecare

In the 21st century, almost every clinic, hospital and private practice uses electronic health records (EHRs). It is the hallmark of seamless interoperability and patient file storage in the medical world.

Telemedicine and telehealth solutions come with unique integration options with EHRs. With an integrated EHR, clinics can seamlessly transfer patient records with other practices.

Further, it’s easier to update patient data through the system. It also enables clinicians to improve care delivery with timely prescriptions, reports and refills to patients. Patients can also file claims to insurance agencies from the comfort of their homes.

2. mHealth

The adoption of mHealth is on the rise, thanks to different mobile phone applications, health information technology, activity trackers and more. Today, mHealth is seen as a mobile technology that, if leveraged correctly, can improve patients’ health outcomes.

According to a study by Global Market Insights, the value of the global mHealth market was $56 billion in 2020. The market will grow at a CAGR of over 30% from 2021 to 2030.

In telemedicine, mHealth helps track patient vitals, send medication reminders, manage patient files and more. The integration of mHealth in telemedicine is improving patient-provider relationships and health outcomes.

3. Digital-first Approach

The 21st century is the era of digitalization. Strictly speaking, the health care industry has always been slower than others to adopt modern technologies.

However, with the advent of telemedicine, care providers started adopting new digital solutions such as video conferencing and audio calling to improve their reach. Care delivery shifted to digital mediums in many forms, from appointment scheduling to delivering reports and exchanging files. We can safely conclude that the digital era is here to stay in the medical industry.

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4. 5G

A new technology, 5G, is already revolutionizing industries worldwide. With internet surfing and streaming speed unmatched, it will surely increase data consumption. From that aspect, 5G’s application in telemedicine will see faster connection times, better streaming quality, less lag during video calls and faster file transfers, among other benefits.

With speeds over 20 Mbps per user, remote patient monitoring will improve the accuracy of data recording. Patients will face fewer disconnections during online consultations contributing to an increase in their overall satisfaction. How medical practitioners will leverage the new 5G technology fully remains a matter of intrigue.

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

While discussing trends in any sector, it is becoming impossible not to talk about artificial intelligence. It’s a technology that has taken the world by storm and is impacting every stratum of society, including medical care delivery.

From chatbots providing real-time assistance to patients to high-quality analytics, AI is changing how we used to perceive medicine. Telemedicine has multiple applications of AI. It improves data quality and provides actionable insights to an organization for improving business strategies.

AI tools also help clinicians organize and track patient behavior over time.

6. Internet of Medical Things

The Internet of Things is a revolutionary technology influencing future technologies to be more efficient. Tracker devices such as smartwatches and activity trackers leverage medical IoT. These devices have sensors and other technologies that enable data exchanges between systems.

With the health care IoT market expected to reach $446.52 billion by 2028, up from $89.07 billion in 2021, it’s easy to see how this trend is rapidly growing.

IoT devices help greatly in remote patient monitoring. Clinicians can record a patient’s heart rate and blood sugar levels remotely. It also alerts patients and allows them to take charge of their medical health.

7. Augmented Reality (AR/VR)

In health care, augmented reality has recently made a name for itself. Its use is increasing in surgery, rehabilitation, teaching and training. AR helps clinicians simulate real-life surgeries to teach recruits.

Applications are also emerging in distance teaching and invasive surgeries. Health care providers can encourage patients to perform tasks that AR applications can convey better than 3D technologies.

8. Cloud

The cloud has created a revolution in health care. No longer do care providers need to create files and store data on in-house servers. Instead, they can leverage vendor-hosted servers, reducing the maintenance burden and dependence on internal IT support. The usage of the cloud in health care has resulted in a more synchronized, well-connected system of data sharing.

The cloud also provides rapid deployment capabilities to telemedicine. Doctors can access and share files seamlessly with patients during online calls. Patients can also get files from care providers remotely.

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Conclusion

Telemedicine trends will continue to grow at an incredible speed. The technology trends such as IoT, AR and AI made critical headway only after the COVID-19 pandemic. With increasing investments in remote services and telemedicine solutions, hospitals and clinics are looking for better, more efficient software to streamline telemedicine.

With newer innovations and technological advancements, we hope that this number will go up in the future. The recent applications will eliminate the impediments and make care accessible to all.

What other telemedicine trends are you keeping an eye on? Let us know in the comments below!