Remote working is on the rise. The boom in work-from-home jobs has replaced the daily commute and typical office 9-5 job for a lot of people. However, not every industry can seamlessly transition to remote working overnight. Some industries are still reliant on physical locations and in-person interactions; one such industry is healthcare.
The healthcare industry has long depended on personal, tangible care and it’s an example of an industry that will probably never be able to operate fully remotely. After all, it would be pretty difficult to carry out surgeries and operations without being in same room as the patient. But that doesn’t mean to say there’s no place for remote jobs in the future of healthcare.
Despite the challenges, remote working is making its way into the healthcare industry and this shift has, and will continue, to impact practitioners and patients. This article will focus on the ways in which remote work could transform the healthcare industry.
The Current Landscape of Remote Work in Healthcare
Virtual Consultations
Technology and healthcare go hand in hand. The quality of healthcare that practitioners can offer is highly dependent on improvements in technology. However, technological advancements can also improve the overall interaction between clients and doctors.
It’s becoming increasingly common for initial consultations to be carried out in a virtual setting which can save time and improve convenience for everyone involved, a shift that was accelerated by the recent pandemic.
Back-End Remote Roles
Not everybody working in healthcare is required to perform surgery. Some roles are far easier to be carried out virtually. For example, mental health counsellors could carry out sessions over a video call.
Similarly, it’s easier for IT staff to work from remote locations. Consider health organisations which are outsourcing developers, teams like these can work from anywhere in the world without impacting productivity. This increases the pool of staff to choose from which in theory, should increase the ability of IT staff working in the health sector.
Hybrid Models
The current approach to healthcare often sees providers utilising a hybrid model. This sees some aspects of a treatment plan carried out in person and other aspects carried out without the need to physically see your care provider.
It could be argued that patients are currently receiving the best of both worlds through hybrid models. Any further shift towards remote work must be done with the best interests of patients in mind, not just motivated by the potential to save costs or time.
Challenges of Implementing Remote Work in Healthcare
Care Quality
A common concern is that the quality of care provided could decline as we move towards a more remote model. A large part of healthcare is the personalised touch that patients receive, and a move towards digital healthcare could see that touch become lost in favour of virtual healthcare.
Technological Limitations
While a move towards remote healthcare improves convenience for most patients, it could have the opposite effect for some. Obviously, digital healthcare requires a device and an internet connection, not something that everybody has. Consequently, this move may reduce access to healthcare for some, particularly older patients or poverty-stricken families.
Retraining Needs
If healthcare is going to move towards being more remote, the industry will also become increasingly reliant on digital products. As a result, providers will need to consider that staff will need to learn how to use new digital products. This comes with a financial cost and also a time cost which reduces the time that professionals can be providing care to patients.
Benefits of Remote Work in Healthcare
Improved Access to Care
While technology has limitations, advances generally open more doors than they close. Remote healthcare could increase access for rural communities that have to travel long distances to receive healthcare. Similarly, elderly patients suffering from mobility issues can also benefit from receiving healthcare from the comfort of their own homes.
Flexibility for Providers
While remote healthcare largely benefits patients, it should also make life easier for workers in the sector. Not only should it see workers benefit from an improved work-life balance, it could also see workers in the private sector increase their pool of patients. For example, a plastic surgeon in Manchester could use virtual consultations allowing them to work with patients in London or even further afield.
Cost Savings
The running and maintenance of physical locations are one of the biggest costs for healthcare organisations. Allowing professionals to carry out tasks from a remote location would reduce the money spent on food, cleaning and staff wages. As a result, this frees up money to be spent on research and testing, and ultimately should improve patient care.
The Role of Technology in Enabling Remote Healthcare
To what extent we can move towards remote healthcare depends on future technological advancements. As already mentioned, simpler tasks like admin and consulting can already be carried out from home, but could the future involve a fully remote healthcare industry?
Telemedicine Platforms
Telemedicine refers to the combination of technology and healthcare. While the term is not new, telemedicine platforms are constantly evolving and, in the future, they will play a huge role in the adoption of remote healthcare. Platforms like AMC Health are used to monitor patients with chronic illnesses.
Wearable Technology
Wearable technology enables patients to keep track of their health without the involvement of a trained proffessional. Products like Apple Watches and WHOOP bands provide data around things like heart rates and sleep quality, data which previously would have needed to be collected by a nurse or doctor.
The ability to keep track of our own everyday health should lead to a healthier society and, in theory, prevent illnesses and diseases caused by unhealthy life choices.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality is expected to undergo enormous growth over the next few years, with forecasts predicting around 25 million VR headsets to be sold by 2028. While they are currently used for more novelty use cases like gaming, VR is expected to impact our everyday lives in the future.
Startups are already starting to harness the power of VR for healthcare training. In the future, we could see hyper-realistic virtual environments that allow access to healthcare training opportunities.
Final Thoughts
There will always be a place for in-person care in some capacity. But going forward, we can expect more healthcare tasks to be carried out in remote environments, whether that’s products like wearable technology that allow data to be collected without any involvement from healthcare proffessionals or virtual reality advancements that allow real-life environments to be recreated in virtual environments. The success of remote healthcare will largely depend on how healthcare organisations can work in tandem with technology firms to create solutions that benefit all parties.
