Integrated care and interoperability is complex if it has to be managed by experts. It becomes pretty easy once you let the patient have a say, according to Philipp Grtzel von Grtz, editorial director of HIMSS Insights. At the crux of discussions around digitally integrating care has always been that integrating care is a complex endeavour, that crafting reimbursement schemes outcome-based or not outcome-based is challenging, and that it takes time and the necessary expertise to achieve the best possible results.This kind of talking has been going on in healthcare systems around the world for years now. The longer I listen to it, the more I get the impression that most of those very people who advocate complex reimbursement schemes for digital care scenarios are in fact more interested in retaining the status quo which they would, of course, never admit. It is one of the funny or, depending on the perspective taken, tragic aspects of the early 21st century healthcare and healthcare digitisation discourse that those who consider themselves innovative and lateral thinking are often the very same people who slam on the brakes when it comes to taking courageous decisions.The good news is that times are changing. In 2018, both Sweden and France have introduced a rather ambitious change in the reimbursement of telemedicine. In both countries, patient-initiated consultations of doctors can now be both in-office or virtual. If the patient goes for a virtual consultation, they will use an app with video-conferencing, and usually end up on a telemedicine platform that connects the patient to a doctor on duty not in some service centre, but usually a doctor in private practice who dedicates part of their working time to offering teleconsultations.

Source: Click here