Healthcare Construction Potentially Dampened By Telehealth Growth
According to at least one healthcare CEO, the growth of telehealth could put a damper on construction in the healthcare industry.
Remote monitoring and other telehealth services have pushed the bounds of healthcare outside of traditional facility barriers and according to Bryan Mills, CEO of the Community Health Network hospital system it could also impact construction within the industry.
His facility has been delivering psychiatric services via telehealth for years, largely to smaller hospital emergency departments when they take in a patient in crisis. “If something that’s labeled as crisis can work, then something that’s labeled as maintenance can also work,” according to Mills via the Indiana Business Journal.
He also believes that as long as healthcare providers are able to use telehealth to improve the well-being of their patient communities, then the number of hospital stays and more serious procedures will begin to trend downward. That in turn, will translate to a need for fewer buildings. “We believe that there are a lot of things that we do that we could do virtually. At that point in time, then you don’t need the space to do it,” he adds.
The State Of Construction
His predictions are not something that has yet taken effect in Mills’ home state of Indiana, an area where healthcare construction has doubled from 2014 according to market research firm Revista. Similar trends can be seen nationally as the entire system adjusts to an aging patient population and the ACA, which itself encourages facilities to see fewer patients.
Healthcare providers are aligning with ACA incentives and use telehealth to handle increasing healthcare demands. Los Angeles-based market research firm, IBISWorld, expects revenue for telehealth services to increase 40 percent a year from now through 2020 to a size of $3.5 billion.
Ryan Daniels, analyst with William Blair & Co. offered his opinion, “The industry has clearly hit an inflection point where consumers are demanding it, employers see it as a cost savings, and insurers are more and more pushing it as a benefit. We think it’s going to grow tremendously.”
Encouragement From The AMA
The AMA announced on October 8 that it is taking the next step in encouraging digital medicine in clinical practice by kicking off a sponsored workgroup that’s been tasked with facilitating the integration of technology into the current CPT code set.
According to AMA President Steven J. Stack, M.D., “Ensuring that CPT codes accurately reflect the telehealth services provided to patients is only possible through the dedication and direct input of the advisors on the Telehealth Service Workgroup. Tapping into the clinical and technological expertise of the health care community and innovators produces the practical enhancements that CPT needs to reflect the coding demands of the modern health care system.”