Start using technology to cut wasted time, energy around procedures

BOSTON—Connected health is experiencing the delay in acceptance phenomenon, said Matthew Harting, MD, MS, of the University of Texas Medical School and UT Health Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, speaking at mHealth + Telehealth World.

Harting compared it to the evolution of how we pay for things. People were skeptical of checks at first and then they didn’t trust credit cards. “It took a long time for people to accept them as a reasonable way to pay. We’re seeing that again with the use of mobile apps to pay. Less than 10 or 15 percent of the people in this room regularly pay with this technology and we’re some of the most technologically advanced people.”

Meanwhile, “there is an idea and mystique around our relationship as physicians and patients and it’s so sacred there is no way we can change it.” But, Harting said, that is not where the future is going.

Medical care is moving closer to the home, he said. And, there is a lot of wasted energy and time before and after procedures that can and should be handled with technology. Harting sees that changing. So much of care before and after procedures can be done from a remote presence.

To successfully run a telehealth program, Harting said organizations need to identify their strengths. For example, his facility has a small number of clinicians like him (pediatric surgeons) performing procedures. In a 150-mile radius around Houston, there are only 22. “Geography works in our favor,” he said. They use one central hub to reach vast areas with no coverage. His hospital also has a robust neuroscience program. “The groundwork laid by this program has been unbelievable for us.”

Buy-in is “probably the most important thing to developing a telehealth program,” he said. There is a lot of skepticism around the technology so you have to determine who is committed. Proceduralists have to be on board and primary care teams referring patients have to believe this is an advantage.

When it comes to your administration, “if you can’t articulate why this of value to them, it’s a nonstarter.”

You also need to identify roadblocks such as who is against telehealth and how you can work with them, Harting said. Identify your resources and strengths. “Every system is different. Figure out yours and where you can really help people get the care they need and want.”

And, he said reliability of the technology is crucial. “It’s got to work well. That’s where you lose clinicians and the buy-in you’ve worked so hard for. It’s got to be user-friendly.”