The HIR article previously referenced states that asynchronous systems “…decouple the components of the interaction so that they can occur at different times at the convenience of the participating parties. This model still allows for multiple component interactions to occur, but the effect of the time separation may add the overhead of required refreshing of the episode context during this process. An efficiency gain may nevertheless be obtained in asynchronous services when the telemedicine task does not require to-and-from interactions, and especially when it does not rely on direct interaction with the patient throughout.”
The Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) shares several asynchronous telemedicine benefits, including the following:
“Patients can get timely specialty care without needing to travel beyond the location of their primary care providers.”
“Wait times for specialty care are lessened, especially in areas with shortages of medical specialists.”
“The store-and-forward process can overcome language and cultural barriers.”
A study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine that compared blood pressure control and healthcare use between patients who received “virtual visits” structured as asynchronous online interactions and typical hypertension care concludes, “Among patients with reasonably well-controlled hypertension, virtual visit participation was associated with equivalent blood pressure control and reduced in-office primary care utilization.”
Finally, the previously cited mHealth Intelligence article notes, “…proponents of store-and-forward technology say the platform is ideal for evidence-based care in which providers are able to gather all the information on a patient, analyze that data, match it to evidence-based care and make a diagnosis. While perhaps not suitable for emergency care, it gives providers the leeway to add clinical decision support to the process and eliminates the sometimes inconvenient requirement of having both patient and doctor available at the same time xi.”
