Telemedicine After Coronavirus

Coronavirus has changed so much of our lives. It’s changed the way we communicate, work, learn, and much more. One change that I strongly believe will continue after Coronavirus has (hopefully) become a pandemic of the past is telemedicine.

Telemedicine is not brand new. It started growing in popularity long before the virus, but Coronavirus seems to be the catalyst that the industry needs to get to the next level. The biggest limitation to telemedicine was the rules and regulations controlling it. According to medicaleconomics.com, there have been a few major regulation changes during Corona:

• Medicare will now pay for office, hospital, and other visits furnished via telehealth
• The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) is providing flexibility for healthcare providers to reduce or waive cost-sharing for telehealth visits paid by federal healthcare programs.
• Medicare will pay physicians the standard office rate payment for services provided via telehealth
• HIPAA and Privacy Standards have been temporarily relaxed to allow the use of Facetime, Zoom, Skype and certain real-time two way telecommunications with patients for office visits.

Bijan Khosravi, contributor for Forbes, stated that not only were regulations holding telemedicine back prior to Corona, but also was the way consumers felt about it. People were not completely comfortable with telemedicine. During the pandemic, with telemedicine becoming incredibly needed and popular, people will become more accustomed to this new medium. Personally, I had a physical therapy appointment online just a few days ago for a shoulder injury. I wasn’t sure how effective this would be, but it ended up being great. The appointment was done via Zoom and truly helped. Of course there were things that the provider was unable to accomplish over Zoom, but overall it was incredibly helpful. Not only is my physical therapist seeing success, but other healthcare providers around the world are also seeing this as a successful alternative. One doctor, Dr. Karapetian, told Forbes that his practice is seeing an immense amount of patients via telemedicine and all have been going well. The doctor does though recognize there will be challenges for telemedicine after Corona. The doctor stated that patient acceptance, physician cooperation, and legal and liability issues will be obstacles. Though these are challenges, Coronavirus is changing all of them, so it will be interesting how people adapt to telemedicine after the pandemic.

After Corona, as predicted by The Decan Herald, social distancing could become the new norm and people may be less comfortable being in crowded spaces or doctor’s offices. If this is the case, the need for telemedicine will only grow and its popularity will continue to soar.

Additionally, there are serious financial benefits of telemedicine. According to a Mckinsey report, India could save up to $10 billion in 2025 if telemedicine replaced 30% to 40% of in-person outpatient consultations. These numbers seem high, but if the world continues on the path we are on, they may not be out of the question.

In addition to helping people who don’t want to be in crowded areas and who want to social distance, telemedicine also helps people who live in rural areas. Living in New York City, a hospital is never too far away, but many people around the world don’t have hospitals or doctor’s offices very close to them. According to the National Rural Health Association, “the patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas.” (wildcat.arizona.edu). One study also claims that remote physician visits reduce hospital admissions by 38% and readmissions by 31%.

The benefits of telemedicine are great and the world is quickly moving in that direction. The question is if people will continue to use these resources after the pandemic and what will be the effects on the industry. I believe this will be one of the most affected industries after the pandemic and I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

Coronavirus has changed so much of our lives. It’s changed the way we communicate, work, learn, and much more. One change that I strongly believe will continue after Coronavirus has (hopefully) become a pandemic of the past is telemedicine.

Telemedicine is not brand new. It started growing in popularity long before the virus, but Coronavirus seems to be the catalyst that the industry needs to get to the next level. The biggest limitation to telemedicine was the rules and regulations controlling it. According to medicaleconomics.com, there have been a few major regulation changes during Corona:

• Medicare will now pay for office, hospital, and other visits furnished via telehealth
• The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) is providing flexibility for healthcare providers to reduce or waive cost-sharing for telehealth visits paid by federal healthcare programs.
• Medicare will pay physicians the standard office rate payment for services provided via telehealth
• HIPAA and Privacy Standards have been temporarily relaxed to allow the use of Facetime, Zoom, Skype and certain real-time two way telecommunications with patients for office visits.

Bijan Khosravi, contributor for Forbes, stated that not only were regulations holding telemedicine back prior to Corona, but also was the way consumers felt about it. People were not completely comfortable with telemedicine. During the pandemic, with telemedicine becoming incredibly needed and popular, people will become more accustomed to this new medium. Personally, I had a physical therapy appointment online just a few days ago for a shoulder injury. I wasn’t sure how effective this would be, but it ended up being great. The appointment was done via Zoom and truly helped. Of course there were things that the provider was unable to accomplish over Zoom, but overall it was incredibly helpful. Not only is my physical therapist seeing success, but other healthcare providers around the world are also seeing this as a successful alternative. One doctor, Dr. Karapetian, told Forbes that his practice is seeing an immense amount of patients via telemedicine and all have been going well. The doctor does though recognize there will be challenges for telemedicine after Corona. The doctor stated that patient acceptance, physician cooperation, and legal and liability issues will be obstacles. Though these are challenges, Coronavirus is changing all of them, so it will be interesting how people adapt to telemedicine after the pandemic.

After Corona, as predicted by The Decan Herald, social distancing could become the new norm and people may be less comfortable being in crowded spaces or doctor’s offices. If this is the case, the need for telemedicine will only grow and its popularity will continue to soar.

Additionally, there are serious financial benefits of telemedicine. According to a Mckinsey report, India could save up to $10 billion in 2025 if telemedicine replaced 30% to 40% of in-person outpatient consultations. These numbers seem high, but if the world continues on the path we are on, they may not be out of the question.

In addition to helping people who don’t want to be in crowded areas and who want to social distance, telemedicine also helps people who live in rural areas. Living in New York City, a hospital is never too far away, but many people around the world don’t have hospitals or doctor’s offices very close to them. According to the National Rural Health Association, “the patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas.” (wildcat.arizona.edu). One study also claims that remote physician visits reduce hospital admissions by 38% and readmissions by 31%.

The benefits of telemedicine are great and the world is quickly moving in that direction. The question is if people will continue to use these resources after the pandemic and what will be the effects on the industry. I believe this will be one of the most affected industries after the pandemic and I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

Coronavirus has changed so much of our lives. It’s changed the way we communicate, work, learn, and much more. One change that I strongly believe will continue after Coronavirus has (hopefully) become a pandemic of the past is telemedicine.

Telemedicine is not brand new. It started growing in popularity long before the virus, but Coronavirus seems to be the catalyst that the industry needs to get to the next level. The biggest limitation to telemedicine was the rules and regulations controlling it. According to medicaleconomics.com, there have been a few major regulation changes during Corona:

• Medicare will now pay for office, hospital, and other visits furnished via telehealth
• The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) is providing flexibility for healthcare providers to reduce or waive cost-sharing for telehealth visits paid by federal healthcare programs.
• Medicare will pay physicians the standard office rate payment for services provided via telehealth
• HIPAA and Privacy Standards have been temporarily relaxed to allow the use of Facetime, Zoom, Skype and certain real-time two way telecommunications with patients for office visits.

Bijan Khosravi, contributor for Forbes, stated that not only were regulations holding telemedicine back prior to Corona, but also was the way consumers felt about it. People were not completely comfortable with telemedicine. During the pandemic, with telemedicine becoming incredibly needed and popular, people will become more accustomed to this new medium. Personally, I had a physical therapy appointment online just a few days ago for a shoulder injury. I wasn’t sure how effective this would be, but it ended up being great. The appointment was done via Zoom and truly helped. Of course there were things that the provider was unable to accomplish over Zoom, but overall it was incredibly helpful. Not only is my physical therapist seeing success, but other healthcare providers around the world are also seeing this as a successful alternative. One doctor, Dr. Karapetian, told Forbes that his practice is seeing an immense amount of patients via telemedicine and all have been going well. The doctor does though recognize there will be challenges for telemedicine after Corona. The doctor stated that patient acceptance, physician cooperation, and legal and liability issues will be obstacles. Though these are challenges, Coronavirus is changing all of them, so it will be interesting how people adapt to telemedicine after the pandemic.

After Corona, as predicted by The Decan Herald, social distancing could become the new norm and people may be less comfortable being in crowded spaces or doctor’s offices. If this is the case, the need for telemedicine will only grow and its popularity will continue to soar.

Additionally, there are serious financial benefits of telemedicine. According to a Mckinsey report, India could save up to $10 billion in 2025 if telemedicine replaced 30% to 40% of in-person outpatient consultations. These numbers seem high, but if the world continues on the path we are on, they may not be out of the question.

In addition to helping people who don’t want to be in crowded areas and who want to social distance, telemedicine also helps people who live in rural areas. Living in New York City, a hospital is never too far away, but many people around the world don’t have hospitals or doctor’s offices very close to them. According to the National Rural Health Association, “the patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas.” (wildcat.arizona.edu). One study also claims that remote physician visits reduce hospital admissions by 38% and readmissions by 31%.

The benefits of telemedicine are great and the world is quickly moving in that direction. The question is if people will continue to use these resources after the pandemic and what will be the effects on the industry. I believe this will be one of the most affected industries after the pandemic and I look forward to seeing how this plays out.

#CBSDigitalLiteracy