Hybrid Care: Mainstreaming Virtual Care with New Models of Care Virtual Workshop – 20 May 2021
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On 20 May 2021, EHTEL held an online event called “Strategies for new models of care: Hybrid care. It was part of the Imagining2029 work programme building on a series of webinars and workshops that are focused on accelerating digital transformation while acknowledging the opportunities and challenges raised by the current COVID-19 crisis. This workshop belongs to the Innovation Initiative Task Force agenda for 2021 – Hybrid care: Mainstreaming virtual care with new model of care. |
The virtual workshop in a nutshell
The COVID-19 crisis has acted as a force for change, and has delivered some positive outcomes in terms of care – despite the tough circumstances. There are certainly new models of hybrid care emerging, bringing together virtual encounters and face-to-face meetings/treatment. These two approaches – of virtual and face-to-face – are complementary. The hybrid approach to health and care is likely to be around in the long-term. But some questions remain about how to make it ‘stick’.
👀Watch the video recording below or on Youtube.
No time to watch the workshop now? Explore the outcomes
Nessa Barry of TEC and Digital Healthcare Innovation from the Scottish Government opened the discussion and welcomed the attendees.
She passed the floor to Diane Whitehouse, who described the role this workshop is playing in EHTEL’s Imagining 2029 work programme for 2021. Diane then outlined what hybrid care means and what are some of its underpinning models.
What are some of the most reliable ways of building hybrid care? Two presentations offered great ideas.
Marc Beswick, head of Scotland’s NearMe service, highlighted the alternative options for using NearMe: telephone, video, and face-to-face. He outlined five important points, particularly pertinent to a rapid improvement process: how the service has been quickly enhanced; what pathways it has followed; how its achievements have been measured; how its 3-month review(s) went; and Scottish people’s satisfaction with the service overall.
Prof. Krishnan Ganapathy from the Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation offered insights into what is happening in India. Over 10,000 telehealth consultations take place a day, and there were some 13 million over the past two decades. Ophthalmology is a key service. Professor Ganapathy took the audience through the main unique characteristics of the service, the way people have been made aware of it, its technologies and dashboards, and its economic viability. In times of COVID-19, some centres were set up in only 10 days. He completed his slideshow with the message: “Thou shalt digitally transform!”
The workshop was very interactive. In the last part, EHTEL hosted a “front row” with four guests. They were Elisabetta Graps (AReSS, Italy), Astrid van der Velde (Isala Heart Centre, the Netherlands), Stuart Anderson (University of Edinburgh, Scotland), and Solvejg Wallyn (health and care in Flanders, Belgium).
Other discussants joined in. Audience members posed a number of key questions. Among the core issues: What kinds of business models are important, including public-private-partnerships? How did change management work, including the speed of change? What are the incentives for adopting hybrid care? How to enable access to hybrid care by as wide a range of people as possible?
Overall, webinar attendees were especially keen to understand how hybrid care can continue into the future.
The final key messages
- A disruptive situation (e.g., COVID-19) can help to generate rapid change, including in hybrid care.
- The ongoing challenge is how to make the new hybrid solutions ‘stick’.
- Having the appropriate integrated infrastructure is important.
- A range of different services might work best as ‘hybrid’ (e.g., urgent care; mental health; chronic conditions).
- Other ‘wrap-around’ conditions are also key.
- Example conditions include: the appropriate business model; general preparation and planning; the re-design of care pathways; training; and evaluation.
Emphasis will be placed on how to ensure access to hybrid care by people who do not necessarily have the opportunity to own sophisticated technologies.
A list will follow of chief pointers to the re-design of health and care services and health and care pathways.
Download all the webinar presentations in the "Resources" section below ⤵️
Want to know more?
- Check out the page dedicated to hybrid care in 2021
- Learn all about Imagining 2029 work programme
