The pandemic has tumultuously impacted our society in the past two-and-a-half years, negatively and positively. Everyone was forced to quarantine at home, thus, compelling people to learn how to communicate with one another through virtual and digital platforms. Deloitte found that the virtual and digital necessities people were forced to learn during the pandemic positively impacted family, education, and health and fitness. [1]
One of the positive impacts that families discovered was the virtual availability of health care. The pandemic drove people to resort to virtual health care since nobody wanted to leave the safety of their homes and risk the chances of spreading COVID-19. Patients discovered the convenience of scheduling and attending virtual appointments. Patients being able to connect with their doctor virtually anywhere offered adaptability to people’s busy schedules and lives. Flexibility and convenience enabled many to connect with their healthcare provider more frequently.
With the pandemic looming over society, healthcare workers were convinced that virtual care would become the new norm. Many healthcare professionals believed that people would value the convenience of virtual healthcare over the experience of physically attending a doctor’s appointment. However, this trend began to change as physicians returned to their offices, and patients felt safe enough to see their doctors face-to-face. Patients felt they were missing specific components of their doctors’ appointments when it was conducted virtually. Virtual appointments, while convenient, could never deliver the holistic experience of an in-person meeting. Healthcare physicians felt they couldn’t examine their patients properly via virtual appointments. Physicians could not collect data from physical touch and standard vitals that could help them with their diagnosis. Deloitte found that patients feel more comfortable going to doctor’s appointments in-person, especially for emergency issues or regular full-body checkups that require the physician to be face-to-face with their patient. [1] Patients feel more at ease when they leave the doctor’s appointment, knowing that their physician was able to conduct a proper examination to treat any issues or ongoing conditions. What originally was thought to be an acceleration of demand for virtual care was quickly recast as a response to specific circumstances. [1]
The pandemic forced people to discover new tools and technologies to communicate with each other. [2] Due to the pandemic, these virtual platforms have become standardized in our daily lives. Many companies have created a virtual healthcare platform that allows patients to connect with a healthcare provider at a time that is most convenient for them. As the pandemic has started to slow down, the number of people relying on those virtual platforms as their primary method for seeing a physician is declining as well. These virtual care platforms target patients looking to connect with a health care provider within minutes and in the convenience of their homes. But with our current technology, they will never replace face-to-face doctor’s appointments where the physician can touch their patient to conduct a thorough examination. There are too many challenges surrounding virtual care appointments to replace the in-person experience completely. Nevertheless, with the advancement of medical communication technology in the past two-and-a-half years, who knows what health care will look like in the future?
[1] Faylor, Gordon. “The Virtues of Virtual: Patients Reflect on Post-Pandemic Telehealth.” MM+M – Medical Marketing and Media, 29 Aug. 2022, https://www.mmm-online.com/home/channel/features/the-virtues-of-virtual-patients-reflect-on-post-pandemic-telehealth/.
[2] Silverglate, Paul H, and Jana Arbanas. “Connectivity and Mobile Trends Survey.” Deloitte, 3 Aug. 2022, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/press-releases/connectivity-and-mobile-trends.html.
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Jake Maroney
Marketing Associate
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