This month, we’ve been focusing on gaining new specialist providers. We’re working on expanding the number and variety of specialists available on Thea Health. I’ve also been reading up on telehealth adoption by specialists and how they have been affected by the pandemic.
What I’ve Been Reading
- eConsults Shift Specialist Care Coordination Decisions: Specialists’ use of virtual care communication instead of face-to-face recommendations increased during the pandemic. In particular, the percentage of e-consults completed without an in-person recommendation increased from 11% to 20%. These results show how the pandemic has caused specialists to increasingly rely on virtual solutions for referrals and care coordination.
- Telehealth Adoption by Neuro-ophthalmologists: During the pandemic, a survey found that neuro-ophthalmologists have rapidly adopted telehealth by 17-fold. Their utilization of all telehealth solutions increased, including e-consult usage increase from 4% to 19%. Neuro-ophthalmologists cite telehealth’s access, continuity, and care efficiency as the main benefits and ones they will continue to see post-pandemic.
- E-Consults Benefit Allergy/Immunology Care: At Rochester General Hospital, 72% of inpatient allergy and immunology consultations were completed electronically while only 28% were in-person. At the same time, 97% of the providers reported either excellent or good experience with e-consults. These results show e-consults’ feasibility and utility for allergy and immunology care while maintaining provider satisfaction.
Introducing Dan: New Clinical Advisor
We’re excited to welcome Dan O’Neill as another Clinical Advisor to Thea Health! Dan is an executive in the healthcare technology space and a consultant on digital health and health policy. Most recently, he served as a Senior Vice President at Change Healthcare where he connected providers with health plans to streamline care delivery. Dan has led the launch and growth of several products to facilitate care coordination for physicians, accountable care organizations, and other clinicians. He is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Policy Fellows, The Boston Consulting Group, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins, and Claremont McKenna.
Thea Health Video
We’ve stepped up the game and created a fun, quick video on how Thea Health works in practice. Check out our first video below!
I love hearing from you! If you have an idea, any questions, or know someone who we should be talking to, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Feel free to email me at harry@theahealth.com or book a time to chat with me at this link.
Thanks,
Harry
CEO/Founder