Survey of the Direct-to-Hospital (DTH) Telemedicine and Telehealth Service Industry (2014–2018)

Abstract

AbstractThe Arizona Telemedicine Program and its Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded telehealth resource center established a Telemedicine/Telehealth Service Provider Directory (SPD) in 2015. This was established in tandem with a national Service Provider Showcase, a direct-to-hospital (DTH) telemedicine service vendor national meeting which helped launch the SPD. The Service Provider Directory (SPD) was designed to provide healthcare system telemedicine service users critical and convenient information about DTH vendors at a single, reliable, web site. The primary aim of this chapter is to analyze the SPD’s database to help characterize the telemedicine/telehealth DTH service industry. As of 2018, 129 DTH companies were listed in the directory (currently 168 companies). Eighty-four percent of companies listed in the SPD as of 2018 indicated they were medical specialty telemedicine service vendors to healthcare systems; 57% were medical specialty telehealth service vendors to non-healthcare systems, such as prisons; and 25% of companies classified themselves as patient education/engagement service providers. The most common telemedicine services, telepsychiatry and tele-mental health, were offered by 44% and 41% of companies, respectively. Remote patient monitoring and mobile health (mHealth) were available from 30% of companies. Targets for marketing of DTH services were rural hospitals (85%), urban/suburban hospitals (75%), and private physician practices, for 65%. Collectively, the 129 DTH telehealth service companies were marketing 70 teleservices and 8 ancillary services in all 50 states. Only 41% of companies said they use an EHR that is ONC certified.