I recently gave a talk to a group of primary care clinicians updating them on the state of telehealth. My take-home message was: “This is a mature care delivery model now. You should decide how much you want to integrate it into your practice.” That got me thinking about why telehealth has not become more …
As we look back on the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, we learned that telehealth is a legitimate, safe, high-quality mode of care delivery for a number of clinical applications. Before 2020, most telehealth interactions fit into the category known as virtual urgent care, representing 0.19% of all health insurance claims. But since 2021, …
A Prescription is a Prescription No Matter Where It Comes From Read More »
What if this is as good as it gets? These words from the 1997 romantic comedy that starred Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt keep coming into my head these days. I can’t help but recall the ATA annual meeting in June 2020, when it seemed like telehealth was the king of healthcare delivery. Three months …
I read a study (in a reputable journal) this week, with the title, “Video Telemedicine Experiences In COVID-19 Were Positive, But Physicians And Patients Prefer In-Person Care For The Future.” Of course, this caught my eye. My experience has been different. Patients consistently tell me how much they enjoy the convenience of receiving care via …
Disreputable, online pharmacies have been a thorn in the side of telehealth for a long time. Because both are internet-based transactions, they are often conflated, and some telehealth companies own their own pharmacy, so it is admittedly complicated. The main fear regarding online prescribing is that unscrupulous prescribers and pharmacies may be able to distribute …
In-person Requirements for Remote Prescribing of Controlled Substances: What Next? Read More »
“If current evidence is only followed by clinicians 60% of the time, why is it so important that we have good evidence for our interventions?” This was a question posed to me by my friend Bleddyn Rees as we prepared for a talk I was recently invited to give at the Digital Health Society Summit …
Growth of the Evidence Base for Digital Health is Crucial for the Adoption Read More »
There has been much controversy in the lay press in the last six months or so regarding telehealth as a tool for addressing the behavioral health crisis. Much of the conversation has centered on whether a video consultation with a behavioral health provider is of sufficient quality to allow decision-making regarding prescribing psychiatric medications. There’s …
Five Ways Telehealth is Better Than In-Person Care Despite the hubbub around telehealth for the past 2+ years, I still hear providers (and some patients) talking about it in absolutes. Some unattributed quotes: “My patients prefer to see me in person.” “I can’t make a diagnosis without the physical exam.” “Can the doctor take good …
Five Ways Telehealth is Better Than In-Person Care Read More »
[vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]While thinking about my keynote address at the 2021 American Telemedicine Association (ATA) annual conference, I kept coming back to Daniel Kahneman’s Nobel-prize-winning theory (his book is called Thinking Fast and Slow). This theory formed the basis for the field we now know as behavioral economics. What Kahneman describes as heuristics (pattern recognition or …
Lessons Learned from 2020 Provide a Springboard for Increased Telehealth Adoption Read More »
[vc_row][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]According to the Consumer Technology Association, recent data shows that 59% of consumers use remote mental health services, 49% are using telehealth for physical health, and 37% are using health fitness apps – all increases compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen how telehealth, as a channel for healthcare delivery, expanded dramatically …
The Need for a Gold Standard in Telehealth Education Read More »