{"id":308,"date":"2020-03-23T16:36:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T16:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/?p=308"},"modified":"2020-03-23T16:36:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T16:36:29","slug":"will-telemedicine-be-here-to-stay-after-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/?p=308","title":{"rendered":"Will telemedicine be here to stay after the coronavirus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Telemedicine or telehealth is the provisioning of medical or\nhealth care over a distance via some type of information communication\ntechnology (i.e., teleconferencing systems, computers, tablets, mobile phones,\netc.). [i]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telemedicine has been around since the 1950\u2019s (the term was coined\nin the 1970\u2019s) yet has never fully taken hold. Telemedicine services have long\nbeen promoted as a way to increase access to health care for those who might not\nhave the clinical services in their area. Specifically, this has been seen as a\nway to provide access to specialized care or provide remote management support\nto those with chronic conditions. At the same time there have been limitations\nin deployment because of infrastructure, both technologically and of our health\ncare system including, licensing, payment, prescribing, and privacy regulations.\n(A notable exception in the U.S. health care system is the Veterans Health\nAdministration.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also questions about acceptance, from the perspective of\nboth providers and of patients. In my research with colleagues, I have found\nthat patients, in general, are more accepting of telemedicine and have rated\nthe visits as highly satisfactory. This is to be expected as they are receiving\ncare that they might not have easy access to, have the sole attention of the\nprovider, did not have to travel far distances, and in turn, disrupt work and\nfamily obligations. Providers, on the other hand, have been a bit more\nreluctant to accept telemedicine. Many of the them perceive that their patients\nwon\u2019t like it (although they rarely ask), have concerns about privacy and\nconfidentiality, worry about the communication with the patient, and have\nissues scheduling and billing for these visits. Although, in research studies,\nmany of these barriers are non-existent, as we are examining the effectiveness\nof telemedicine on improving health outcomes, and in a sense, have made an\nartificial environment in order to provide this type of care. Even with the\nbarriers removed, there is still quite a bit of trepidation and low use of the\ntelemedicine services. I posit that this non-adoption is due to the infrastructures\nof work in a hospital or a clinic. This is why there has been an increase in\ndoctors who just practice over telemedicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, up until recently telemedicine was carried out using\nwhole room teleconferencing equipment in a hospital or clinic setting. Now many\nhealth care systems and insurers provide access to telemedicine services using the\npatient\u2019s own equipment (e.g., cell phone, laptop, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has been deemed as a\npandemic by the World Health Organization,[ii]<\/a>\ntelemedicine is being recommended for those who think they have symptoms to\nconsult with a health care provider, in order to protect both other patients\nand providers. Additionally, the insurance companies are being more liberal in\nthe reimbursement or payment of these services,[iii]<\/a>\nwhich provides an interesting opportunity to see how telemedicine performs and\nthe expectations we should set on this method of providing health care into the\nfuture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that this current public health crisis will finally\ndemonstrate if telemedicine has turned the corner as a practical and safe way\nto deliver and receive routine care. There is going to be such a push from the\npublic to have and be able to continue to use this type of service that I would\nexpect it to become a standard of care for many. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m seeking to further understand this trend and hope to report on\nmy findings later.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[i]<\/a> https:\/\/www.who.int\/goe\/publications\/goe_telemedicine_2010.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[ii]<\/a>  https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/goatsandsoda\/2020\/03\/11\/814474930\/coronavirus-covid-19-is-now-officially-a-pandemic-who-says<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[iii]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cms.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/president-trump-expands-telehealth-benefits-medicare-beneficiaries-during-covid-19-outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitten, P., Holtz, B.,\n& Nguyen, L. (2010). Keys to a Successful and Sustainable <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telemedicine Program.\nInternational Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care<\/em>,\n26(2):211-216. doi:10.1017\/S026646231000005X. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitten, P., Holtz, B.,\n& LaPlante, C. (2010).  Telemedicine: What Have We Learned? Applied\nClinical Informatics<\/em>, 1(2):132-141. doi: 10.4338\/ACI-2009-12-R-0020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitten, P., Holtz, B.,\nMeyer, E., & Nazione, S. (2009). Telehospice: Reasons for Slow Adoption\nin Home Hospice Care. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare<\/em>,\n15(4):187-190. doi:10.1258\/jtt.2009.08091.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitten, P., Holtz, B.,\n& Nazione, S. (2009). Searching for Barriers to Adoption of the Videophone\nin Hospice Setting. Journal of Technology in Human Services,<\/em>\n27(4):307-322. doi:10.1080\/15228830903329849. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whitten, P. & Holtz,\nB. (2008).  Provider Utilization of Telemedicine: The Elephant in the\nRoom.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telemedicine<\/em> and e-Health<\/em>, 14(9):995-997. doi:\n10.1089\/tmj.2008.0126. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telemedicine or telehealth is the provisioning of medical or health care over a distance via some type of information communication technology (i.e., teleconferencing systems, computers, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":309,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[27,4,26,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions\/310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breeholtz.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}