Dive Brief:
- As the telemedicine market continues to grow, the American Telemedicine Association is promoting a new service to accredit live, direct-to-consumer telehealth services. The ATA's hope is to separate "the wheat from the chaff" for consumers who use telemedicine for their healthcare needs.
- Telemedicine is growing rapidly at a 17.7% rate per year, expected to reach $43.4 billion by 2019. While the ATA supports hospital-based telemedicine programs, it is concerned that the direct-to-consumer offerings may need a little extra policing to keep consumers safe—hence the new accreditation program.
- "ATA's Accreditation Program is designed to ensure transparency and patient safety as online services for healthcare proliferate," said Jonathan Linkous, CEO of ATA, in the company's news release. "We've seen an explosion of online healthcare service offerings in recent years, and a growing need to assure consumers they are making good choices. ATA's Accreditation Program for Online Patient Consultations will provide benchmarks for organizations building an online practice."
Dive Insight:
Telemedicine is making great strides in hospitals, especially in rural areas, but the consumer offerings in the marketplace are all over the map in terms of quality and consistency. The problem is, consumers are stuck relying on trial and error to weed out the dogs.
The ATA's program is not an end-to-end solution, but at this point, their "Good Housekeeping Seal" on a telemedicine provider's site can at least help consumers identify those firms which adhere to basic standards of service and care. There is also an ATA consumer Web site in the works, which will help the ATA gather intel from consumers at the same time it advises them of the ATA's program and the guidelines that accredited telemedicine outfits must follow to participate in the program.