Bet on videoconferencing growth before PHR ubiquity
Last week, I reported in InformationWeek on a Manhattan Research study showing that 7 percent of U.S. physicians were chatting with patients via videoconference. What the research didn’t say is how many consultations actually take place by videoconferencing. My guess is that it’s minuscule, but virtual visits will soon become commonplace.
According to Australian online healthcare community eHealthSpace, technology vendor Siemens is forecasting that 20 percent of all medical consultations in Australia will take place online by 2020. Much of that growth will come from rural and remote areas of a vast country that’s full of remote, sparsely populated areas.
I find that much more believable than another Siemens prediction that 90 percent of Aussies will have a “personally controlled electronic healthcare record” (whatever that means) by 2020. I’m guessing that videoconferencing with doctors will boom long before there’s widespread adoption of any health record controlled by patients.
I believe that telepresence and videoconferencing will become more common, but the transition will be as the author agrees- a little while. I believe that the improvements in information and communication technologies will benefit the health care industry; but before 20% of the US uses telepresence, medical facilities are going to have to improve the way in which they exchange information. Please check out my company’s website if you are looking for additional information on telepresence or other topics regarding IT Healthcare. Thanks for the interesting read!