December 19, 2023
2023 brought monumental telehealth app breakthroughs expanding virtual care access and capabilities. But what’s on the horizon for 2024? This blog explores insurance expansions, emerging innovations like hybrid delivery models, immersive extended realities, AI assistance, and persistent obstacles that continue impacting adoption.
Before gazing ahead, it’s worth revisiting some of 2023’s biggest telehealth app development accomplishments that laid the groundwork for continued innovation.
Major hospital systems like HCA Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, and Cleveland Clinic developed and launched comprehensive virtual care platforms enabling video visits, remote monitoring programs, and telemedicine urgent care services.
They invested heavily in upgrading digital infrastructure and optimizing clinical workflows to seamlessly integrate virtual solutions with traditional in-person care.
Leading insurers UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, and Humana fast-tracked virtual coverage benefits expansions in alignment with positive state and federal regulatory shifts.
This included reimbursement increases for telemedicine appointments, mental health counseling, chronic care management, and more. Many also developed integrated plan options blending virtual solutions with coordinated in-person provider networks.
Retail health players like CVS Health and Walmart Health made big moves into telehealth as well as acquisitions of nationwide on-demand urgent care app providers.
These deals aligned with aggressive plans to establish the pharmacies as one-stop shops meeting both acute episodic and chronic preventative healthcare needs virtually and in-person.
Industry disruptors like Amazon and Doctor on Demand spearheaded aggressive partnerships, acquisitions and independent product development plans aimed toward capturing consumer market share through convenient telehealth app offerings provided under popular digital brands distinct from players.
The significant shift means most private insurers now face state-level requirements that individual and group insurance plans must cover an expansive list of telemedicine services without limitation, at parity with equivalent in-person care across modalities like video, phone and online messaging.
This has dramatically reduced financial barriers to virtual adoption on a mass scale nationwide.
Many states also concurrently amended strict telehealth licensing restrictions requiring out-of-state providers to undergo burdensome registration processes to enable broader clinician network access for residents.
Reciprocal compacts for border communities also emerged. This regulatory rethinking helped address access issues exacerbated by growing physician shortages and improved feasibility for nationwide virtual-first health companies.
On the public insurance front, federal programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Health Administration, and Indian Health Services, boosted eligible telemedicine benefits and reimbursement rates to further improve utilization among vulnerable beneficiary groups, clinicians, and tribal facilities often battling with significant rural/remote care obstacles.
Presurgical video consultation programs enabling patients to remotely meet specialists well in advance of procedures were widely adopted to allow for thorough health history reviews driving more informed, customized, and ultimately safer perioperative care plans.
Post-discharge remote monitoring platforms to track patient recovery progress, medication adherence, and potential complications expanded drastically, given evidence indicating significant readmission avoidance when red flags are addressed quickly. Dashboard alerts help providers identify at-risk patients needing early intervention.
Full-scale tele-ICU command centers harnessing AV tech, analytical algorithms, and specialized offsite/nightshift clinician monitoring resources saw massive investment from medium and large hospital systems seeking to leverage scale, improve efficiency, and standardize quality overseeing intensive care units across dispersed regional facilities.
Customizations balancing AI assistance with experienced clinical oversight were refined based on emerging best practices.
These significant TeleHealth app development solutions achievements seen in 2023 established the necessary groundwork for more impactful health advancements across care continuity as we enter 2024.
Insurance expansions at both federal and state levels aim to promote widespread telehealth app adoption by equalizing coverage and payment. Analysts predict over 35 states will have comprehensive telehealth parity laws by 2024 requiring private insurers to reimburse an expansive range of virtual care services at identical rates to equivalent in-person care.
Additionally, major federal health programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs, and Indian Health Services, intend to roll out more telemedicine benefits for beneficiaries throughout 2024. Medicare is launching a 2024 pilot enabling seniors access to remote services like nutritional therapy, diabetes management, and wellness visits.
As clinical outcomes and return-on-investment cases continue demonstrating advantages, more large employers seem likely to follow initial adopters in offering integrated health benefits plans blending virtual solutions with coordinated in-person networks to drive productivity.
Widespread 5G network availability promises the reliable, high-speed connectivity needed for seamless clinician-patient video consultations, rapid medical record sharing across platforms, lag-free remote monitoring feeds, and quick analytical assessments via Internet of Things connected devices.
In tandem, telehealth app vendors are enhancing audio/visual platforms to reduce pixilation, echo, and intermittent lags during appointments to improve the virtual care experience for patients and providers. Smart device manufacturers are also optimizing smartphone cameras, microphones, and small wearable monitors with diagnostic capabilities to support higher fidelity vital sign tracking and clinical observations.
Collectively as virtual visits more closely emulate valuable facets of in-person appointments, broader comfort levels and utilization across age groups can flourish regardless of innate tech adeptness.
Nearly 95% of American adults 60 suffer from conditions like hypertension, arthritis, respiratory disease, or diabetes. Caring for these patients requires regular virtual check-ins and remote monitoring programs. Without sufficient doctors to meet demands, telehealth app development solutions help bridge important care gaps. And with the healthcare market size expected to reach $16 trillion by 2028, major tech companies view telemedicine as a wise investment area given expansive growth prospects.
Motivated by healthcare’s vast market potential, Amazon, Apple, and Alphabet are aggressively funneling billions into digital health acquisitions, pilot programs, and proprietary application development via growing healthcare divisions. Their efforts aim to keep users within integrated device/software ecosystems (FireOS, iOS, and Android), while also disrupting incumbents.
However, major partnerships modernizing legacy provider IT systems indicate integration prevailing over disruption for now. Still, through app stores, wearables, and AI analytics, tech giants will profoundly shape telehealth app landscapes enabling convenience and connectivity. Their familiar consumer brands also help overcome barriers like usability friction and site trustworthiness that impact adoption among digitally inexperienced groups.
As tech titans pursue opportunities to reinvent care delivery models, their efforts will profoundly shape the telemedicine landscape in the coming years.
While 2023 focused largely on building up telehealth app infrastructure and expanding access, 2024 may unlock boundary-pushing innovations that transform how care is delivered:
Thus far, telehealth app development modalities have remained largely siloed: on-demand urgent care apps, scheduled outpatient video visits, chronic care messaging portals, etc. But forward-thinking health systems are now blending these virtual tools with in-person care to enhance continuity.
For example, California-based Carbon Health provides patients a seamless experience via:
This model harnesses the convenience and personalization of telehealth with quality outcomes of in-person medicine. More hybrid TeleHealth app development solutions will likely emerge.
While video chat platforms helped expand basic telemedicine services, immersive technologies like VR and AR lend themselves better to specialized use cases like virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) for phobias, robotic physiotherapy for mobility recovery, and distraction therapy for pain management.
Providers are already piloting futuristic offerings like:
As more evidence validates the clinical efficacy and patient benefits of these next-gen modalities, adoption will likely accelerate.
AI-driven software can help both patients and doctors in a multitude of ways. From consumer symptom checker apps to sophisticated hospital technologies, AI promises to enhance efficiency, accuracy, access, and outcomes.
While still needing oversight, applied judiciously, AI can meaningfully augment clinician capabilities.
Despite the promising innovations expected, obstacles hampering telehealth app development expansion still remain in 2024.
Addressing privacy gaps via provider education and more stringent health data regulations will be critical to ensure safety.
Investing in FAST interoperability standards and devising creative data-sharing agreements between providers could help overcome bottlenecks getting the right information to the right hands when needed most.
Multi-billion dollar federal budgets aim to fund adequate universal access, but local partnerships are imperative to address last-mile gaps hindering those most vulnerable.
Though select inter-state partnership compacts recently emerged to expand access, larger policy changes addressing conflicts between federal and state regulations could enable wider care availability countrywide via telemedicine app development services.
In conclusion, there is no denying telehealth app development solutions gained immense momentum in 2023 through supportive policies, investor backing, and technological advancements that massively expanded virtual care access and delivery capabilities.
However, in our enthusiasm for cutting-edge innovations like hybrid care models, virtual reality therapies, and AI-assistants, we must remain aware of persisting challenges that continue preventing adoption for some groups.
Cyberthreats, intermittent broadband access, health literacy gaps, and strict licensing laws are but some obstacles that still warrant prudent foresight, careful planning and dedicated resources to address access gaps interfering with optimal outcomes. Socioeconomic barriers also necessitate attention to ensure affordable solutions across web, mobile, and call centers so cost does not remain an adoption barrier, especially amongst low-income populations.
At a premium telehealth app development company, Consagous Technologies, our decades of expertise in building sophisticated mobile apps and virtual care infrastructure can help clients craft thoughtful digital health strategies aligning growth goals with socially conscious community care. Our award-winning telehealth app developers have launched innovations expanding access across service lines.
We specialize in telemedicine, mHealth applications, hospital technologies, and remote care software. The holiday season is in full swing, with people busy buying gifts, planning parties, and celebrating with loved ones. But amidst all the festivities, it’s still important to take care of health needs. An easy gift this season could be getting a friend or family member a telehealth app plan, enabling convenient access to medical consultations.
With major advances in telehealth app development this past year, virtual care is poised to become even more prominent in 2024.
Let’s connect to explore how bespoke telehealth app development solutions from Consagous could help your organization augment clinician capacities, harness patient-generated data, and bridge care gaps interfering with optimal outcomes.
The future of healthcare hangs in the balance. Through partnerships combining compassion and technology, we can enhance access for all!
