Telehealth Thrives Amid Social Distancing, COVID-19 Crisis


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RPM and telehealth was still trying to persuade buyers of the usefulness, the business case when COVID-19 hit. Those conversations have been made easier, and we’ve even heard that POs that were pending hospital approval have been rushed through.

COVID-19 has forced the separation of healthcare providers from patients in many cases, making the case for remote patient monitoring and telehealth systems. The global patient monitoring and telehealth market is estimated to be worth about $42 billion in 2019, inclusive of devices, peripherals, software, packaged services, monitoring services and other applications, according to a report from Kalorama Information, part of Science and Medicine Group, a market research firm.

“RPM and telehealth was still trying to persuade buyers of the usefulness, the business case when COVID-19 hit,” said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. “Those conversations have been made easier, and we’ve even heard that POs that were pending hospital approval have been rushed through.”

Temporarily, restraints due to HIPPA legislation have been lifted. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is responsible for enforcing certain regulations issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) indicated that “A covered health care provider that wants to use audio or video communication technology to provide telehealth to patients during the COVID-19 nationwide public health emergency can use any non-public facing remote communication product that is available to communicate with patients.”

No longer is telehealth for rural patients alone. Legislation from the House details that for qualified providers, an emergency waiver will allow telehealth to be reimbursed by Medicare.

The interest in telemedicine and telehealth has exploded over the last decade. Involvement in this care segment has several benefits and hospitals, caregivers, device manufacturers, and patients are continuing to jump on board with acceptance using this technology. There are more than 700 clinical trials using telehealth recently completed, currently underway. The global patient monitoring and telehealth market has continued its expansion in both the institutional and home segments of the health market with the United States and many European countries at the forefront of implementation.

Among the trends Kalorama analysts have noticed recently include the following:

  • – Increasing demand and business opportunities as a result of COVID-19.
  • – Pending POs for telehealth equipment and services that hospitals were delaying being completed as a response to COVID.
  • – Companies are facing growing difficulties in accessing supplies to provide monitoring equipment.
  • – Companies are experiencing longer lead times for manufacturing monitoring equipment.
  • – Companies have had to expand capacity for surges in use; one company reported a move to a hosting platform that could handle the increased volume – a move that has not come without several hurdles to implement.
  • – Most companies report increased and enhanced security software upgrades.
  • – Still uncertainty if widespread telehealth reimbursement and other implemented programs will sustain post-COVID.
  • – Inquiries, New Orders are up

Kalorama Information’s Remote Patient Monitoring report details the companies in the market and the size of the market by application. It can be found at: https://kaloramainformation.com/product/remote-patient-monitoring-and-telehealth-market/

About Kalorama Information

For more than 30 years, Kalorama Information has been a leading publisher of market research in healthcare areas, including in vitro diagnostics (IVD), biotechnology, healthcare, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.

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