Business models for telehealth in the US: analyses and insights

Abstract

A growing shortage of medical doctors and nurses, globally, coupled with increasing life expectancy, is generating greater cost pressures on health care, in the US and globally. In this respect, telehealth can help alleviate these pressures, as well as extend medical services to underserved or unserved areas. However, its relatively slow adoption in the US, as well as in other markets, suggests the presence of barriers and challenges. The use of a business model framework helps identify the value proposition of telehealth as well as these challenges, which include identifying the right revenue model, organizational structure, and, perhaps more importantly, the stakeholders in the telehealth ecosystem. Successful and cost-effective deployment of telehealth require a redefinition of the ecosystem and a comprehensive review of all benefits and beneficiaries of such a system; hence a reassessment of all the stakeholders that could benefit from such a system, beyond the traditional patient-health provider-insurer model, and thus ``who should pay{''} for such a system, and the driving efforts of a ``keystone{''} player in developing this initiative would help.