Uniting Specialty Telemedicine on One Platform

The rapid expansion of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic proved its value in maintaining access and continuity of care when in-person connections were disrupted. In the years since, however, many hospitals and health systems have found themselves managing a fragmented mix of specialty telemedicine platforms — often one system per specialty — creating operational complexity, higher costs and strain on clinicians and IT teams.

Why Health Systems Are Consolidating Specialty Telemedicine Platforms

A new AHA Market Scan Trailblazers report, sponsored by Specialist TeleMed (STeM), examines how consolidating specialty telemedicine services on a single platform can address these challenges while improving access, efficiency and patient experience.

As health systems expanded virtual specialty services in areas such as neurology, infectious disease and cardiology, many did so through niche vendors with separate technologies, workflows and contracts. The result has been inconsistent user experiences for clinicians and patients, increased administrative burden and concerns about scalability. Survey data cited in the report underscores the urgency: Nearly half of health system executives say the U.S. health care system does not provide timely, convenient access to specialty care, and an equal share expect the clinical workforce pipeline to worsen over the next five years.

The Emerging Market Landscape for Unified Specialized Virtual Care

The report highlights how a single-source specialty telemedicine model can deliver measurable administrative, clinical, operational and financial benefits. These include standardized workflows, unified scheduling and credentialing, faster consults, reduced transfers and lower administrative costs. For rural, community and critical access hospitals in particular, virtual specialty care can serve as a force multiplier, extending specialist access without the challenges of on-site recruitment.

A case study of Havasu Regional Medical Center illustrates the impact of this approach. By expanding virtual specialty services, the hospital has reduced the need for patients to travel long distances for care, while easing the burden on nurses and clinical staff by moving toward a more streamlined technology environment.

As hospitals look beyond short-term staffing gaps, the report concludes that uniting specialty telemedicine on a single platform can also lay the groundwork for advanced virtual care models, support value-based payment strategies and help health systems keep care local while strengthening long-term resilience.

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