Amwell’s Roy Schoenberg talks about telehealth and broader views of virtual care

Consumers are clearly embracing telehealth when it comes to getting mental health services.

Roy Schoenberg, co-founder of Amwell and executive vice chairman of Amwell’s board of directors, says telehealth offers different opportunities for patients to get behavioral healthcare. When it comes to mental health services, the ease of use and desire for privacy make telehealth particularly appealing, he says.

But he sees more potential for telehealth to emerge in different ways. Schoenberg talked about telehealth and its potential with Chief Healthcare Executive® at the HLTH Conference last month.

He says he’s losing sleep “in a good way” thinking about the power of telehealth.

“We're still thinking about how these technologies can help carry out the regular healthcare that we're used to. It used to be seeing a doctor in the office. Now you're going to see them on your phone,” he says.

“But what we're missing in that conversation is that these technologies can actually surface at completely other places where healthcare is needed and doesn't exist,” he says.

Schoenberg refers to the space between visits “where patients live with their healthcare reality, but are all alone.”

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For patients with cancer or other chronic conditions, or those simply aging with grace, Schoenberg says telehealth offers untapped potential to help those patients. He discusses utilizing telehealth and artificial intelligence to “create a new kind of healthcare companionship in the patient's reality at their home when we're not there.”

“We will possibly be on the verge of completely reimagining the utility of how our entire healthcare system operates and give us hope as patients that our experience can actually be less painful,” he says. “That's the fun part to think about these days.” (The story continues below the video.)

Telehealth offers more than convenience for patients, Schoenberg says. He sees more potential for patients to stick with behavioral health services through telehealth.

“There are more ways to do smaller touch points that keep the relationship alive,” he says. Providers can send messages to reschedule if a patient is busy and help keep the connection.

“We see that a lot of facets of digital interaction are just much more easy for the patient to sustain, that they stay longer,” Schoenberg says. “They're giving a chance for the behavioral health relationship to actually deliver value over time.”

Plus, patients can keep behavioral health providers more easily through telehealth if they have life changes, such as relocating for a job or taking on different work schedules.

“People are changing jobs. They're changing their hours. The flexibility that comes by interacting with the clinician, even if you're not at the same place again, allows them to sustain that relationship going forward,” he says. “We know people that have moved continents and continue their relationship with their behavioral health provider.

“So these are the kind of things that really just give it a staying power that doesn't exist when it was not through technology,” Schoenberg says.

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Even as telehealth puts behavioral health service in reach of more patients, Schoenberg says there remains a shortage of mental health clinicians.

“There's just not enough supply,” he says. “It doesn't matter how much money you're going to throw at the problem, there's not enough people who are able to handle it.”

However, telehealth can help at least ease some challenges in the supply of clinicians by making it easier for behavioral health providers to work anywhere, including their own home, to offer more services to patients.

Looking ahead, Schoenberg says he hopes to see a more nuanced conversation about telehealth’s potential that may not be fully appreciated.

“It's a system of distribution of healthcare,” he says. “Behavioral health is one of the places where you can see the impact most visibly. But it really is a logistical infrastructure, not a video conferencing system. And I think that's really the power … that is a much harder thing to think about. How are we changing the distribution of healthcare through these technologies?”

While many patients have great experiences with telehealth, some consumers have been less satisfied, according to a J.D. Power survey released in September. Schoenberg says because so many telehealth providers have emerged, it’s confusing to consumers, who prefer clinicians, practices or health systems they already know.

“I think it's our fault. I think we, the people here collectively, failed to do a good job in introducing the power of these technologies to the people,” Schoenberg says.

“Healthcare is being transported into people's reality through these technology pipes,” he adds. “It needs to align with the brands that they trust, the services that they're familiar with, and it needs to be a digital extension of healthcare, rather than a portfolio of different brands. So it’s on us.”

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