How Telemedicine Can Help Doctors Serve Patients In A Post-Pandemic World

Once considered to be merely a novel way to connect doctors with patients, telemedicine now is recognized as an essential tool in the fight to overcome Covid-19.

Since the start of this pandemic, there has been a nationwide push for treating non-emergency physical and mental illnesses with virtual office visits. The effort has the support of the federal government, healthcare insurance payers and professional healthcare associations.

The ability to hold videoconferences over smartphones, tablets and personal computers enables patients to receive care from their own homes and avoid traveling to settings where Covid-19 may be spread.

Telemedicine is playing a vital role as we continue to find our way through this pandemic, and patients are getting along with telepsychiatry solutions without compromising on quality.

An Essential Tool

As a result of Covid-19, the rise in anxiety over the pandemic is well documented. More than 90% of people who responded to a recent nationwide survey conducted by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine reported increased worry, frustration, boredom or anxiety due to the outbreak.

Falling Barriers

Recent policy changes have removed barriers to telemedicine and telepsychiatry. Professional medical groups now endorse virtual care and provide guidance for practitioners. Before the pandemic, medicare coverage of telemedicine was used mainly to help patients who lived in rural areas, with limited access to specialists. That changed with the passage of the CARES Act in March 2020. The law promotes access to care regardless of location. As a result, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now is encouraging patients to remain at home and socially distance to avoid the spread of Covid-19.

Gaining Greater Insight

The level of comfort patients feel when they just need to speak with the doctor from any corner of their home and do not need to go outside or wait in the queue for the consult is elite. While talking about mental health or psychiatric help, patients sometimes do not feel as open as they might feel at their own homes. Telemedicine can accommodate these issues while still providing a way for patients and their doctors to meet.

Some virtual patients connect with their doctors from telemedicine communication stations, which can be installed at nursing homes to serve large populations. These stations may be equipped with all the technology needed to check patient blood pressure, temperatures, weight, and oxygen levels.

Some ambulance crews now carry computer tablets that enable them to consult with doctors while en route to hospitals, speeding the delivery of emergency care.

Expanded Access

While telemedicine is advancing quickly, work remains to be done to bring it into broader use.

To make telemedicine available and accessible nationwide, there needs to be additional training to maintain hassle-free use of virtual care for both doctors and patients. There also needs to be more security levels to ensure patient privacy.

Although many health organizations are struggling financially through the Covid-19 pandemic, they are likely going to have to invest in telemedicine, according to data from Forrester. The research firm predicted back in April that virtual care visits would rise to more than 1 billion during 2020, including 900 million visits related to Covid-19.

Health insurance companies and hospitals have been urging patients with mild symptoms to take advantage of telemedicine services. The telemedicine market is forecast to increase from $46 billion in 2019 to $175 billion by 2026. Forty-eight percent of U.S. physicians now are using telemedicine, up from 18% two years ago.

In the year 2121 and beyond we will see more applications and more widespread use of telemedicine. Patients and providers will start realizing the true benefit of technology. The post-pandemic world will be better connected and ready for any future challenges we might face.

The original article can be found at: Forbes (Innovation)