While virtual healthcare plans continue to rise in popularity for offering immediate access to care at lower costs, they also have the potential to bring out the worst attributes in healthcare, Stamford (Conn.) Health CEO Kathleen Silard, BSN, RN, wrote in a Dec. 16 op-ed.
Ms. Silard expressed concern with the gatekeeping potential virtual clinicians have. She said plans that use virtual care as a patient's starting point "take the worst attributes of our healthcare system — disconnected care, limited patient choice and inequity — and make them front-and-center."
She also expressed concern with virtual plans that hire third-party clinicians who may be unfamiliar with a patient's in-person physicians, she said. The disconnect may also lead to disjointed medical record systems and siloed patient care.
Ms. Silard also argued that virtual health plans still face accessibility hurdles, including the 32 million Americans who lack digital literacy to use online services and the 40 percent of adults with incomes below $30,000 who lack internet or computer access.
"As the leader of an independent, non-profit hospital deeply connected to our community, and one that was hit early and hard by the pandemic, I know that technology is a tremendous clinical tool for lowering barriers to care," Ms. Silard said. "I hope it becomes a regular site of care for many patients."
"But don't confuse virtual care with a virtual health insurance plan," she continued. "Technology builds walls as easily as it tears them down."