How the hybrid future of telemedicine may play out

Today, the healthcare industry has started to reach a consensus that the future of telemedicine will be a hybrid of virtual and in-person care. While virtual care's widespread adoption will certainly help providers offer more proactive care in lower cost settings and decrease the need for regular in-person visits, it is not an end-all-be-all solution. In the year to come, there will be more training to define at what point a patient needs to be seen in person to not only provide effective care, but to keep them engaged in their own care journey, contends Kristin Molina, business leader for patient engagement and healthcare analytics at Philips. While not every in-person visit needs to be replaced by virtual care, we can certainly pave the way for more flexibility to fit the needs of practices and patients. Q. Virtual care can help caregivers provide more proactive care at lower costs and decrease the need for in-person care. For example, when it comes to mental health sessions, virtual options can certainly supplement this care and also provide greater insights into the person's home life. Q. You have predicted that this year there will be more training to define at what point a patient needs to be seen in-person to not only provide effective care, but to keep them engaged in their own care journey. A. Virtual care is here to stay, but there are still questions that we need to answer in order to integrate this as a successful hybrid model, including defining the point at which a patient should be seen in person and when virtual is a better option. Going forward, we will continue to expand these use cases, allowing healthcare providers to deliver better care through an integrated journey of leveraging both in-person and virtual options.