Telehealth Averted Healthcare Collapse During COVID – Will Inertia Kill Further Adoption?

Web-based and mobile applications are being utilized to upload patient-recorded information about their vital signs (including blood pressure, blood glucose levels, or lung function) from their homes. In addition, wearable devices can transmit real-time data such as heart rate, gait, posture control, tremors, physical activity, or sleep patterns, to care, teams. This can be augmented by home monitoring devices for vulnerable adults such as the elderly or those with dementia that detect and report activities such as falls or extended periods of inactivity.

The increased use of telehealth has also started to address the shortage of trained medical staff – something that has contributed to high levels of clinical staff burnout.

Traditional roadblocks to telehealth have diminished, thanks to increased availability of the technology, pragmatic regulatory changes, and the willingness of patients and providers to embrace new solutions.