Reimbursement from Medicare and inadequate telehealth parity laws are the biggest challenges to telemedicine programs that have not been addressed, according to the 2017 U.S. Telemedicine Industry Benchmark Survey from Reach Health, a telemedicine software company.
The survey includes responses from 436 physicians, executives, nurses and other healthcare professionals throughout the United States. Responses were collected between December 2016 and January 2017.
Here are 20 top unaddressed challenges to telemedicine programs, according to survey respondents:
1. Medicare reimbursement: 39 percent
2. Inadequate telemedicine parity laws: 38 percent
3. Medicaid reimbursement: 36 percent
4. Private payer reimbursement: 34 percent
5. Lack of common EHR/EMR in "hub and spoke" model hospitals: 34 percent
6. Lack of integration with current EHR/EMR: 33 percent
7. Determining return-on-investment: 31 percent
8. Lack of native capabilities in EHR/EMR: 30 percent
9. Physician compensation: 28 percent
10. Potential regulatory liability: 25 percent
11. Potential malpractice liability: 25 percent
12. Staff turnover: 25 percent
13. Physician credentialing and/or licensing: 22 percent
14. Lack of adequate specialist physician coverage: 21 percent
15. Lack of funding: 20 percent
16. Partner recruiting: 20 percent
17. Cost of supporting technology: 20 percent
18. Physician acceptance: 17 percent
19. Patient acceptance: 13 percent
20. Lack of executive support: 13 percent
Note: Respondents could pick more than one unaddressed challenge.