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How today’s healthcare model for youth is changing
ince COVID-19 (and even before), more patients have been turning to hybrid healthcare to meet their needs. Hybrid healthcare combines telehealth’s remote benefits with in-person care’s hands-on aspects. It’s the way of the future — and facilities of all kinds, including school campuses, are jumping on the bandwagon.
As a society, we have moved toward something different, largely thanks to the safety parameters established during COVID-19. With an increased need for flexibility, hybrid services shot to center stage — and have stayed there. This is especially true when considering hybrid health and wellness services for children.
Here’s how healthcare for children is changing dramatically — and what we can expect from the future of hybrid healthcare in schools.
To add to the stress, a study by the American Psychological Association found that 39 percent of parents in the workforce are having difficulty finding quality child care to help shoulder the load. So, when a kid shows signs of any mental or physical ailment, a doctor’s visit becomes just another bump in an already consuming schedule.
Fortunately, telehealth is causing a big shift in healthcare. It’s about meeting students and their families where they are, rather than forcing them to seek care at a facility and adjust their entire routine. Telehealth visits make it so parents can ensure their children get the healthcare they need — eliminating geographic barriers, allowing for flexible scheduling, offering essential mental health services and providing crucial health education.

Telehealth is leading the movement toward a more affordable healthcare model by helping parents eliminate in-care visit costs and travel expenses. Additionally, it’s been found that in-person care is drastically more expensive than telehealth visits — around four times as costly.
While hybrid healthcare solutions offer less expensive options to ensure children’s health and wellness, this doesn’t mean sacrificing quality of care in the name of affordability. Telehealth and hybrid care models provide an even higher quality of care by allowing patients easier access to providers.
These wellness visits include routine vision and hearing screenings, taking care of potential issues before they become more severe. Growth, development and vitals checks ensure that children are developing at a healthy rate. Additionally, wellness visits can include mental health screenings, scoliosis checks and immunization updates. Being on top of routine check-ups is a necessary, proactive approach. It lays the foundation for healthy adulthood by helping detect and prevent potential health issues.
Unfortunately, as important as regular exams are, many children aren’t getting them when they should as parents can struggle to find the time and resources to incorporate them into their already busy routines. That’s another reason many parents are turning to hybrid healthcare. Telehealth provides a seamless option for frequent exams by reducing barriers like costs and scheduling conflicts. Remote, as-needed access to healthcare professionals makes the most sense for working parents.
No child should miss out on a well-cared-for and healthy adolescence for reasons out of their control. The best solution is to provide top-notch healthcare solutions like hybrid school clinics. These improve accessibility, have low- to no-cost premiums, and allow for convenient routine check-ups. Moreover, the best hybrid healthcare models ensure that children are not only receiving physical support, but mental health check-ups as well.
As the demand for hybrid solutions continues to grow, it isn’t a shift school leaders can ignore, for the sake of our society as a whole, but particularly for the next generation.