Zoom has released a beta version of an iOS mobile browser client for telehealth, allowing patients to access appointments without downloading an app.

The simplified setting lets providers send a link to patients through text or email. Though the providers’ experience will be the same, allowing for host controls and virtual backgrounds, patients will simply need to click a link to join the meeting.

Downloading an app was a struggle for some patients, particularly the elderly or those who don’t want to clutter their phones with apps, said Heidi West, head of healthcare at Zoom.

“We needed to be able to support our clients to remove any friction points that make the engagement a challenge,” she said.

WHY IT MATTERS

The use of telehealth exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, but some Americans don’t have access to the tools that make virtual care possible.

A Pew Research Center survey from earlier this year found 25% of Americans ages 65 and older reported never going online. The survey also found 14% of Americans making $30,000 a year or less said they never use the internet.

Those living in rural areas face a double whammy when it comes to telehealth access. According to the 2019 Life in Rural America report, 26% said there was a time in the past few years where they needed healthcare but didn’t get it. Of those, 23% said the healthcare provider was too far away, while 22% said they couldn’t get an appointment during the hours they needed.

But even though telehealth would help with in-person access issues, one in five said getting high-speed internet was a problem for their family.

Though most patients adapted well to using Zoom for telehealth appointments at the beginning of the pandemic, West said, a mobile browser was the #1 request from providers and patients.

“It really takes the physician or administrator out of IT.”

THE LARGER TREND

The big question is how telehealth will change after the pandemic subsides. 

While half of patients had a telehealth visit during the pandemic, 60% of patients surveyed in HIMSS’ State of Healthcare report said they wanted to return to their pre-pandemic normal.

But that does depend on who you’re asking. Gen Z and Millennials were more interested in telehealth, with nearly three-quarters saying convenience is one big draw. The research found 47% of Millennials would prefer telehealth over in-person visits after the pandemic.

"The desire to go back to normal is an overarching sentiment. There is a pandemic fatigue and they want to go back to normal in many facets of their life," Lauren Goodman, director of market intelligence at HIMSS, said during the State of Health event. "This data is a snapshot in our current state, and it could shift. These metrics will be interesting to watch over time."

How patients feel about telehealth is also changing. According to a Sykes survey, about 65% of Americans were unsure about the quality of telehealth in March 2020 and 56% didn’t think they would receive the same level of care compared with in-person appointments.

But by March 2021, almost 88% said they wanted to keep using telehealth for nonurgent consults after the pandemic, and 80% said it’s possible to receive quality care virtually.

For Zoom, West said the company was committed to the healthcare vertical before the pandemic, but the healthcare application is only going to grow going forward.

The mobile client is now available in beta for iOS, but there are plans to roll it out to other operating systems. Zoom is also working on updating their virtual waiting room, letting providers send messages and instructions to patients before their appointment begins.

“I think the other piece that gets lost a little bit is that there is no going back to the way healthcare used to be,” West said.