Few health systems report significant ROI from virtual care: survey

Diving brief:

• Healthcare executives view digital health and virtual care as key technologies to improve the patient experience, but determining the ROI on those investments is unclear, according to a survey released this week by healthcare consulting firm Sage Growth Partners.
• Nearly 60% of respondents said their health system offered virtual primary care and remote patient monitoring. Additionally, half reported offering telehealth for stroke care.
• But fewer than 30% of them saw a significant return on investment from most of their virtual care offerings, according to the survey. Additionally, many executives said they would need to invest funds to move to a new virtual care platform in the coming years.

Dive overview:

Nearly half of executives ranked patient experience as their organization’s top strategic initiative, a significant increase from just 14% in 2020, according to the report, which surveyed more than 100 senior health system and hospital executives.

Leaders view telehealth and digital health as key tools for improvement. More than 80% of respondents said digital health products impact the patient experience, improve engagement with care teams, and help patients manage their own health.

But tying the adoption of virtual care investments to returns remains a challenge, according to the survey. For example, only 10% of executives reported seeing significant ROI from virtual visits in primary care. Most respondents said they had determined a certain return on investment or that the offering had broken even financially.

However, yields varied depending on the virtual service. Only 10% of leaders reported implementing virtual triage in their emergency departments, but 56% reported a significant return on investment.

Meanwhile, many executives have said they will soon need to improve their core virtual care platform or invest in entirely new technology. More than 22% indicated that their organization would likely need to move to a new platform within one to three years.

The survey comes as telehealth has become a more common method of accessing health care in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when virtual care was often necessary to limit in-person contact.

But the policies that govern telehealth reimbursement aren’t always certain for providers. Flexibilities first enacted during the pandemic that expanded Medicare coverage for virtual care expired earlier this month due to the government shutdown, leaving providers scrambling to determine how they would manage their telehealth programs.