Telemedicine Services:
Now the Leading Edge
By N a n cy Row e o n
January 15, 2015
“What was the single most important development in
telemedicine, telehealth and/or teleradiology in 2014?”
T
hat question was just posed by a
colleague in an email to several
telemedicine industry leaders.
To me, the most important development
was the burgeoning of the service provider
market. Healthcare systems, hospitals,
private practices, nursing homes and
other entities are looking more and more
to outside companies to provide medical
services for their patients via telemedicine
technology.
Telemedicine Services and Providers
Telemedicine can provide needed
services—such as stroke, cardiology, and
burn specialists—to small communities,
broaden the reach of healthcare systems
by broadening their offerings, provide
local backup coverage and after-hours
access, and improve convenience for
patients who no longer have to travel
outside their communities for specialty
care. It improves patient outcomes and
provider bottom lines. And it’s not only
healthcare providers that are benefiting:
Schools, employers, insurers, correctional
facilities, and patients themselves are
seeking services through telemedicine.
I count nearly 120 commercial providers of
medical subspecialty and ancillary services
via telemedicine technology who market
their services to healthcare providers and
other entities, and the field keeps growing.
Nationwide, well-established, commercial
firms are being joined by startups,
academic programs and large, integrated
healthcare systems that are marketing
their services outside their own networks.
Partnering with a Provider
Why partner? It can be a lot easier to
partner with a company that will provide
medical services via telemedicine
technology than to start your own
program. With a partner, you don’t have
to worry about physician recruitment and
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retention and you often don’t have to
worry about installing and maintaining
equipment, either.
Provider companies often will have the
experience and exp