How Virtual Care Improves Patient Access

We were delivering thousands of psychiatric visits monthly with no waiting rooms. The secret wasn't technology. When I co-founded Frontier Psychiatry, there was significant doubt that virtual care would work in rural areas. "You need to see patients in person for mental health," many insisted. Three years later, we had better outcomes than traditional clinics. Here's what actually made it work: 1/ We eliminated the right friction ↳ No commute for patients in rural areas ↳ No time off work for appointments ↳ No sitting in stigmatizing waiting rooms ↳ But kept the human connection rituals 2/ We added human touches ↳ Providers know the patient's history when they sign on ↳ Same provider every visit (98%+ continuity) ↳ human touch with intake and scheduling ↳ effortless to reach the care team 3/ We refused to play the typical game ↳ No cherry-picking "easy" cases ↳ Took Medicaid, uninsured, complex conditions ↳ Built wraparound services - psychiatry to social work ↳ Became the provider of last resort (proudly) 4/ We created psychological safety at scale ↳ Same provider team for everything ↳ Therapy, meds, care coordination - all in one place ↳ No bouncing between specialists ↳ Patients finally had a behavioral health home The technology was just Zoom. Nothing fancy. But we discovered something profound: removing physical barriers allowed us to add emotional presence. Our no-show rate dropped to 10% (industry average 25-50%) Patient satisfaction hit 94%. Hospitalizations decreased 38%. Not because of innovative technology. Because we used basic technology to be more human. The biggest surprise? Our providers preferred it too. No commute meant they could do a morning yoga class. Seeing patients in their home environment revealed context impossible to gather in sterile offices. The flexibility reduced burnout. We thought we were building a telehealth company. We actually built a connection company that happened to use video. The future of virtual care isn't about better technology. It's about using technology to be better humans. --- ⁉️ What makes virtual healthcare feel human to you? What ruins it? ♻️ Repost if you believe healthcare needs more humanity, not just more technology 👉 Follow me (Reza Hosseini Ghomi, MD, MSE) for lessons from scaling virtual care

The urgent care network's CEO was direct: "𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘺 15% 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦." We recognized an opportunity to fundamentally rethink the organization's operating model through a technology-enabled transformation. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗗𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲  - Reimbursement compression from payers  - Increasing competition from retail healthcare providers  - Rising patient expectations for digital experiences The traditional approach would have been incremental: trim staff, reduce supply costs, chase marginal efficiencies to achieve an 𝟴-𝟭𝟬% 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 while degrading patient experience. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵: 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮-𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 We built a digital transformation strategy around three core capabilities: 𝟭. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 We analyzed three years of visit data and created an AI-driven staffing model that predicted patient volume with 94% accuracy at hourly intervals. This allowed precise staffing aligned to actual demand rather than static scheduling. Impact: 18% reduction in labor costs while reducing average wait times by 12 minutes. 𝟮. 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹-𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 Rather than viewing telemedicine as a separate offering, we redesigned the entire care delivery model around a virtual-first architecture. Patients began with an AI-triaged digital intake, followed by a virtual provider assessment, and only then proceeded to in-person care if clinically necessary. Impact: 41% of cases were resolved without in-person visits, reducing facility costs while increasing patient satisfaction scores by 9 points. 𝟯. 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 We consolidated fragmented clinical and operational data into a unified platform, giving providers real-time decision support integrated into their workflow rather than requiring separate analysis. Impact: 17% reduction in unnecessary tests and procedures, 28% decrease in prescription costs through more precise medication management. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀: 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 The combined impact exceeded all expectations:  - 23% reduction in total care delivery costs  - Patient satisfaction improvement from 72nd to 89th percentile  - Clinical quality metrics improvement across 7 of 8 key measures  - Provider satisfaction scores increased by 14 points Rather than merely surviving market pressures, they established a new care delivery model that attracted acquisition interest at a multiple 2.4x higher than the industry average. 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴.

In many parts of rural America, access to healthcare isn’t just limited. It’s often delayed, distant, or entirely unavailable. Long drives to the nearest clinic, overbooked doctors, and limited specialists mean that preventive care is often replaced by emergency visits. Chronic conditions go unmanaged. Mental health issues get overlooked. And people, especially working adults, learn to live with discomfort simply because help feels out of reach. But virtual healthcare is changing that. Telehealth has quietly become one of the most important shifts in American healthcare. It’s not just about convenience, it's about access. For people, living miles from the nearest hospital, a video consultation could be the difference between getting help early or letting a condition worsen. More than that, digital care platforms now offer tools that go beyond one-off consultations. They provide daily support, health tracking, lifestyle guidance, and even mental health check-ins. They did all without needing to step into a clinic. One example of this shift is Friska.ai. Friska.ai is an AI-powered health platform designed to make personalized care accessible on a daily basis. It offers custom nutrition advice, yoga and fitness routines, sleep and stress management strategies, and tools to help people manage conditions like diabetes. It even generates intelligent health reports that doctors can use for proactive care. More importantly, platforms like Friska.ai allow doctors to monitor the health of entire populations remotely; spotting patterns, catching red flags early, and providing care to people who might otherwise slip through the cracks. This is what it means to reshape healthcare. It's not about replacing doctors. It's about reaching the people who have historically had the least access. It's about making health guidance a part of daily life, not just something you get in emergencies. As America continues to invest in digital health infrastructure, the question becomes: how do we ensure the tools being built are truly inclusive? FriskaAi is one step in that direction. A part of a much larger shift that prioritizes proactive, accessible, and patient-centered care.

A 64-bed behavioral health hospital serving a rural community had just 90 days to replace its only psychiatrist.  Without a solution, the hospital faced closure. Most hospitals in this situation rush to recruit or bring in temporary locums. It buys time, but often leads to: • High costs • Staff burnout • Inconsistent coverage This hospital took a different approach, and it paid off. Here’s what we did to help: • Launched a fully virtual program with complete coverage in 3 months • Assigned a remote Psychiatric Medical Director for clinical oversight • Covered admissions, rounding, and 24/7 on-call psychiatric support • Held weekly meetings to build trust and streamline collaboration • Delivered live training for day and night shift on-site care teams • Built a lasting virtual care model the team still relies on today Here are the results: → 31% increase in patient census → Improved team collaboration and confidence → Positive patient response to the virtual care model → Full continuity of care during and after the leadership transition Honestly, this is what makes my job so fulfilling. Real applications of high-quality solutions that impact lives. The CEO of the hospital told me, “This is the wave of the future, and we’re there! I can’t imagine that we would ever go back to on-site psychiatry.”

As a physical therapist, I have embraced virtual care, not as a replacement for in-person care, but rather, as an adjunct. One of the biggest impediments to clinical progress is adherent care. If a patient cannot access appropriate healthcare services, the outcomes will likely suffer. By thoughtfully integrating virtual and in-person care, we can leverage the strengths of each to enhance a patient's overall treatment experience, making it more efficient, accessible, and tailored to their needs. Telehealth and digital services are effective in many fields: A study in the Journal of Patient Experience compared 16,685 urgent care visits (14,734 in-person and 1,262 virtual) over a year. It found that virtual urgent care visits were significantly shorter (9.38 minutes) and cheaper ($49) compared to in-person urgent care visits (70.89 minutes and $142.66, respectively). A systematic review in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, covering 30 studies with over 5 million participants, found that virtual consultations are as effective as, or more effective than, face-to-face care for managing conditions like mental illness, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Virtual care was noted for its efficiency, including reduced waiting times and lower patient costs Studies in the journals Surgery and the American Journal of Surgery found postoperative telemedicine visits are safe, time-efficient, and maintain high patient satisfaction, making them a viable alternative to in-person follow-ups for low-risk general surgeries. The Virtual Musculoskeletal Solutions Health Technology Assessment highlights that virtual health technologies, when guided by physical therapists, can provide “clinically meaningful improvements” in pain and function for patients with musculoskeletal conditions. A survey by Assurance, an insurance company, found that while 27% of Americans initially had a negative perception of telemedicine, 90% would recommend it after trying it. As digital resources advance and health literacy improves, patients gain more flexibility in managing their health. Providers often act more as coaches, guiding them through their treatment journey.

A recent study conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center demonstrates the impact of remote care management on patient safety and satisfaction. With telehealth, patients experience enhanced accessibility to care, leading to improved outcomes and higher satisfaction rates. This approach not only provides convenience but also ensures consistent monitoring, significantly reducing hospital readmissions and emergency visits. The integration of remote care technologies has proven to be a game-changer, fostering a more proactive and preventive healthcare environment. These findings underscore the importance of leveraging digital health tools to optimize patient care and outcomes. Key Insights: Enhanced Accessibility 📱 - Telehealth improves access to care, ensuring timely medical attention. Improved Patient Safety 🛡️ - Continuous monitoring reduces emergency visits and hospital readmissions. Higher Satisfaction Rates 😊 - Patients report greater satisfaction with the convenience and quality of remote care. Proactive Healthcare 🚀 - Remote management allows for preventive measures, addressing health issues before they escalate. Operational Efficiency 🔄 - Streamlines healthcare processes, making care delivery more efficient and effective. https://lnkd.in/e36qX3gF

Healthcare is experiencing the mother of all supply-demand mismatch crises - we’re short 100K+ doctors relative to demand projected in the next 5 years. One of the ways the system has tried to solve this is by stacking layers of *non-doctors* at the front lines to triage as much as possible _away_ from doctors and save our scarce doctor capacity for the cases that truly need them. But that's had the unintended consequence of higher costs, duplicative services, over-escalations, and patient safety issues... What we really need to do is ensure that patients get access, upfront, to fully-trained clinicians who can make confident recommendations and reduce the downstream swirl associated with traditional triage processes. But we simply don't have enough doctors to do that, absent a fundamental innovation that could create non-linear leverage and amplification of expertise and capacity for each doctor in practice. ⭐ Enter Counsel Health ⭐, an AI-native medical practice that offers patients unlimited, 24/7 access to personalized medical advice from actual physicians. Patients can message a Counsel doctor with any medical question and receive actionable, reliable responses within minutes. They’ve built AI-powered "Ironman suits for doctors" - essentially proprietary, specialized medical co-pilots that give each Counsel clinician the ability to leverage the collective knowledge of the best of their peers, and multiply their patient reach by at least an order of magnitude relative to traditional medical practices. Counsel represents the type of care model that is only possible in a post-LLM world, led by an incredible "multilingual" founding team: ⭐ Muthu Alagappan, MD, CEO, has experience as an AI researcher, a practicing doctor, and an early leader at a high-growth digital health company that achieved significant commercial scale. ⭐ Justin Yu is an MIT-trained computer scientist and ML expert who has built AI systems in robotics, at NVIDIA, and virtual team collaboration. ⭐ Rishi Khakhkhar, MD, MBA is an Emergency Medicine doctor who ran one of the nation's first Virtual Urgent Care centers at the renowned Mount Sinai Health System. We at a16z Bio + Health are thrilled to be backing this exceptional team as they pioneer Asynchronous Care, which could transform the way we leverage our precious supply of doctors. See full announcement in the comments below 👇 ... and Counsel is hiring! Check out their open roles: https://lnkd.in/guCNkjd4 Jay Rughani, Sherman L., Dan Rosenthal, William Shrank Andreessen Horowitz

Proud to share our latest peer-reviewed publication in JMIR Publications, showing how telehealth + integrated care + AI can transform men’s health urology—advancing the Quadruple Aim: - Increase access - Improve patient experience - Reduce provider burnout - Lower cost while improving outcomes At Bastion Health, we didn’t build just another virtual clinic. We built a clinically grounded, tech-enabled platform rooted in evidence-based medicine—designed to close critical gaps in care for prostate, reproductive, hormonal, sexual health, and cancer prevention. This research lays the foundation for our national model—delivering earlier detection, smarter workflows, and more equitable care for men everywhere. Let’s change how men access care—earlier, easier, and with purpose. #MensHealth #Urology #Telehealth #DigitalHealth #QuadrupleAim #BastionHealth #EvidenceBasedCare #HealthEquity Bryce Bisset Tarun Shriram Meena Davuluri, MD, MPH Hassan Azar Jonathan Beilan Justin Houman MD, FACS

Telehealth only leads to over-utilization of care. It does not actually replace in-person visits, it only costs us more money. 🤨 Sound right? That concern has shaped the policy conversation for years. It began due to a widely cited study demonstrating DTC telehealth increased total utilization. It became a benchmark for both caution and debate, especially in Medicare policy debates (can read here: https://lnkd.in/erZ4qYXV) Btw, that study was from 2017. Yet we still had that story ingrained and was hard to shake despite some research showing different results. Well in a new study, we have new evidence to may get rid of this belief once and for all. This study analyzed 100% of Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) claims from 2019 to 2024 to assess how telehealth has affected outpatient visit volume. It focused on evaluation and management (E&M) visits across three specialties with different levels of telehealth use: 🔹 Low: Orthopedic surgery 🔹 🔹 Medium: Primary care 🔹 🔹 🔹 High: Behavioral health Here’s what stood out: 1️⃣ Telehealth stabilized: After its initial spike, telehealth found its place. In 2024, it made up 38.4% of behavioral health visits, 6.3% in primary care, and just 1.2% in orthopedics. 2️⃣ More telehealth didn’t mean more visits. Total E&M visits were actually lower in specialties that used telehealth more: 📉 Behavioral health: 4.1% relative decline 📉 Primary care: 7.2% relative decline (Compared to orthopedics as a baseline) 3️⃣ Telehealth was substitutive, *not* additive: This is a key difference. Virtual care mostly replaced in-person visits rather than creating new demand. It met patients where they were without overwhelming the system. 4️⃣ Overall utilization stayed steady: Despite new care models, visit rates held consistent. Telehealth expanded flexibility, but capacity constraints and clinical workflows still shaped how care was delivered. These findings challenge long-held assumptions (I can't believe that it has been 8 years). We now have strong, early data suggesting that broad telehealth adoption doesn’t drive overutilization in Medicare. That’s a meaningful shift. It is time to move beyond outdated fears and into more thoughtful, evidence-based policy. As someone who’s worked in both emergency medicine and telehealth, I’ve seen how virtual care can meet real needs without excess. I hope we continue building systems that reflect that. Not just in theory, but in how we support access, quality, and sustainability in practice. 🧠 Curious to hear your thoughts especially if you're working in policy, digital health, or any corner of the system where these questions come up daily. 🔗 Read the full study here: https://lnkd.in/eyam4jHF Note: this is a preprint so might be more to add post peer review #digitalhealth #telemedicine #telehealth

For a routine healthcare visit at a hospital there are usually 2 options: 1) An in-person appointment that requires paying for parking, travel time, walking through a maze of hallways, sitting in a waiting room, filling out forms at check-in, and then finding out the appointment is delayed by 20 minutes because the clinic is running behind. 2) A virtual visit that requires no travel time, selecting a time at your convenience from multiple slots, and a simple check-in online with an appointment that is going to start and end on time. According to Deloitte research about 24% of survey respondents say they are willing to switch doctors to ensure access to virtual health options and about 65% of respondents said they view virtual care as more convenient than in-person care. Patient demand for sophisticated virtual experiences in healthcare is growing. If the banking, retail, and entertainment domains offer convenient personalized digital options then shouldn't healthcare? As more physicians work hybrid schedules we have an opportunity to meet our patient's desire for flexibility. Deloitte report: https://lnkd.in/dy8XXyYp #telehealth #digitalhealth #healthcareIT #virtualcare #healthcaretransformation