Rise in virtual care has strained healthcare relationships: CEO
As Yahoo Finance's Healthcare Week kicks off, reporter Anjalee Khemlani sat down with SCAN Group & Health Plan President and CEO Sachin Jain to discuss how healthcare has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jain noted that increased access to telehealth has strained in-person healthcare relationships. Pre-pandemic, building bonds between providers and patients was vital, but telehealth's rise has disrupted this.
Jain also commented on financial strains facing hospitals, though he called recent layoffs more a "crisis in healthcare management" than a fiscal necessity. Jain says financial leaders are trained to view things in terms of "targets," but this thinking can undermine healthcare's core focus - patients, workforce, and physicians.
"I think it's a big challenge for the industry that many people expect a strong relationship," Jain tells Yahoo Finance, adding, "and some of what the digital health and telehealth revolution has done is has switched healthcare into a series of transactions, as opposed to a relationship-oriented field."
Jain analyzes how healthcare delivery and finances have transformed, for better or worse, since the pandemic accelerated trends like virtual care. He offers insights into the system's continuing adaptation, emphasizing the need to balance access, costs, and quality without losing sight of healthcare's most critical element – people.
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Video Transcript
ANJALEE KHEMLANI: We know that so much has changed since the pandemic. We were forced to find health care outside of hospitals when they were locked up with patients. We saw the rise of pharmacy and retail health, as well as telehealth really play a role. I know you're in charge of a payer, but you do have some thoughts about this. So tell me about what you think has changed permanently in the way we view health care.
SACHIN JAIN: Well, for one thing, I think we no longer think of facilities as being the center of people's health care experience. But I do think one thing that people are starting to think about is really the soul of health care. And what I mean by that is I think these large institutions that people typically relied on for care were local and people felt like they had a real relationship with them.
Today, people are increasingly seeing care-- accessing care through virtual means, as well as through other channels. And I think people are wondering where is that relationship going to come from? And I think it's a big challenge for the industry, which is that many people expect a strong relationship. And some of what the digital health and telehealth revolution has done has switched health care into a series of transactions as opposed to a relationship-oriented field.