Insights from Elizabeth Hyatt at the Fierce Healthcare Payer Summit: The ROI of Virtual Care

The TytoCare team was thrilled to join the Fierce Healthcare Payer Summit in Austin, Texas, at the beginning of November. The event brought together thought leaders and executives in the healthcare sector and was a great opportunity to meet new leaders in the field and catch up with existing partners and friends. Elizabeth Hyatt, Director of Payer Solutions at TytoCare, delivered an insightful talk on the Return on Investment (ROI) in Virtual Care. Her presentation provided a deep dive into the current state of the healthcare industry, especially in the wake of the pandemic, and the critical role of ROI in shaping future investments in virtual healthcare.

Hyatt began by painting a picture of the healthcare landscape, acknowledging both the challenges and opportunities that have emerged post-pandemic. She highlighted the increased strain on the industry due to rising labor costs, layoffs, and market consolidation, which have led to increased medical costs. In particular, she noted the projection of a significant rise in medical expenditures for employers by 2024, with the usual rise of 5% being swamped by a projected rise of 9-10%.

Despite these challenges, Hyatt pointed out the growing opportunities for virtual care. A McKinsey & Co study concluded that approximately 50 million U.S. visits could potentially transition to virtual settings. The pandemic has also fostered greater consumer trust and education in virtual care, alongside more favorable regulations and reimbursement policies. Pre-COVID, only nine states in the U.S. had payment parity for virtual care services. Now, 21 states have adopted this, which is a positive sign for provider adoption and motivation. The positive, but also challenging, growth in virtual care services has led to nearly 13,000 companies in the U.S. alone with virtual care offerings. This saturation makes it imperative for healthcare payers and providers to focus on ROI when evaluating virtual care solutions.

Hyatt emphasized that understanding and calculating ROI is crucial for strategic decision-making in healthcare investments. She outlined TytoCare’s approach, which involves assessing the value a virtual care solution brings to an organization in five key areas: reducing total cost of care, improving member and provider experience, increasing access to care, improving clinical outcomes, and considering staff and operational costs.

Hyatt shared TytoCare’s methodology for evaluating ROI, which includes understanding the goals of a virtual care program, identifying target cohorts, leveraging outcomes data, designing the program, and measuring outcomes. This comprehensive approach ensures that the value brought by a virtual care solution outweighs its costs.

Elizabeth Hyatt’s presentation at the Fierce Healthcare Payer Summit provided valuable insights into the importance of ROI in the evolving landscape of virtual healthcare. Her analysis of the current challenges and opportunities in the industry, along with TytoCare’s structured approach to evaluating virtual care solutions, offered a roadmap for healthcare payers and providers looking to navigate this complex and rapidly changing field.