Considering patient care and business, the provision of telemedicine services is more appropriate compared to opening a retail clinic. Firstly, technology-mediated care and patient education services will drastically increase the network’s outreach, promoting better healthcare in remote areas. Secondly, the effectiveness of small retail clinics in reducing the workload on ED departments is non-existent, whereas telemedicine can be helpful in this regard.
Research Evidence Supporting the Decision
Current studies do not compare telemedicine and retail clinics directly, but research evidence favors the former’s higher effectiveness in preventing high-risk conditions. Martsolf et al. (2017) report that patients’ access to retail clinics for the treatment of non-serious disorders does not reduce the rate of low-acuity ED visits in these areas. In pediatric care contexts, telemedicine visits are as effective as conventional visits in preventing subsequent hospital or ED admissions (Joshi et al., 2021). Additionally, high-intensity telemedicine interventions in geriatric populations can decrease dementia patients’ ED visits by more than 20% (Gillespie et al., 2019).
Cost Control Considerations
The project supports cost control by promoting cost savings for the healthcare system. Telemedicine use in ICU, pediatric services, and dermatology can reduce service costs and patient travel costs by 56% and 94%, respectively (Atmojo et al., 2020). Additionally, telemedicine services can lower hospitals’ document printing costs, thus allowing for wiser resource allocation decisions.
Possible Areas of Concern
During telemedicine implementation, the system should be mindful of risks. The system must ensure the adequacy of all physicians’ technical training and equipment management knowledge. Also, IT teams’ ability to offer timely assistance to care providers should be guaranteed. Finally, the limited interoperability of diverse locations’ patient record systems might create barriers to care continuity.
Conclusion/Recommendation
In summary, the system is recommended to add telemedicine to the list of available services. Doing so could facilitate patient surveillance and reduce ED visits while also optimizing care and administrative costs. Therefore, telemedicine can benefit the system both financially and reputationally.
References
Atmojo, J. T., Sudaryanto, W. T., Widiyanto, A., Ernawati, A. D., & Arradini, D. (2020). Telemedicine, cost effectiveness, and patient satisfaction: A systematic review.Journal of Health Policy and Management, 5(2), 103-107.
Gillespie, S. M., Wasserman, E. B., Wood, N. E., Wang, H., Dozier, A., Nelson, D., McKonnochie, K. M., & Shah, M. N. (2019). High-intensity telemedicine reduces emergency department use by older adults with dementia in senior living communities. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 20(8), 942-946.
Joshi, C., Jacobson, M., Lori, S., Shea, S., Yang, M., & Eschbach, K. (2021). Risk of admission to the emergency room/inpatient service after a neurology telemedicine visit during COVID-19 pandemic.Pediatric Neurology, 122, 15-19.
Martsolf, G., Fingar, K. R., Coffey, R., Kandrack, R., Charland, T., Eibner, C., Elixhauser, A., Steiner, C., & Mehrotra, A. (2017). Association between the opening of retail clinics and low-acuity emergency department visits.Annals of Emergency Medicine, 69(4), 397-403.