Time is Money

• July 24, 2019
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We have all heard the pros and cons of Telemedicine and how it benefits its patients, but we haven’t really heard how it benefits its physicians, and how it is time and money efficient.

The Vermont Veterans Affairs’ use of telemedicine to treat its patients resulted in a large savings for their physicians. Many studies have been conducted, and I am sure we can all understand that time is money, and this facility is saving both. They have found that telemedicine resulted in an average savings of 145 miles and 142 minutes per visit, and as volume in services grew, payment reductions were noticed. Annual travel savings had increased to $63,804, or about 3.5 percent of the total travel pay for that year. An average travel payment savings of $18,555 was saved per year between 2005 and 2013, so I am sure you can see a very positive trend here. Those studying this trend have also determined that Veterans suffering from depression or other health related issues benefitted from Telemedicine visits just as much as face to face visits, and the Telemedicine visits were more convenient due to mobility issues, and fear of social stigma.

We are now realizing that the people we pay to save lives and take care of ourselves as well as our children are now effectively being able to use their time to help others with limited access to healthcare. This is a huge step in the medical industry for its physicians and its patients, and more savings are to come.