Telemedicine: Its Past, Present and Future

Abstract

The concept of Telemedicine is nearly 100 years old as demonstrated in an early US magazine depiction of the “Radio Doctor” in 1924. Later in the 1960s, innovative physicians leveraged available emerging telecommunications technology and adapted clinical protocols to pilot medical applications that addressed real-world challenges in patient access for remote populations. Health Plan investments and advancements in mobile and network technology enabled limited scale telehealth services direct to consumers in the early twenty-first century. Prior to 2020, adoption was low and targeted. It was restricted by payer payment policy, state and federal medical/health privacy regulations and provider limited acceptance. That all changed with the global emergency declarations resulting from COVID19 pandemic starting in early 2020 when health safety concerns by consumers, first responders and healthcare workers created transformational telehealth adoption. Restrictive regulations and payment barriers were waived, and telehealth demand exploded. Now that patient, provider and payer telehealth benefits have been exposed and partially realized, multispecialty, scalable telehealth services have reached the tipping point for increased enterprise investment, innovation and broadscale adoption going forward.

Looking beyond 2021 there will be greater emphasis on optimized consumer health, wellness and seamless, local and remote, patient-centered integrated care for the sick and injured. Telemedicine, telehealth, digital health analytics, standards-based medical sensors and system automation technology advancements will enable improved, timely, scalable patient self-care and augmented, specialist to remote primary care and/or care giver capabilities and capacity.