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 »
When I started in this business in the mid-’90s, the idea that we could deliver high-quality care with the patient and clinician in different places was viewed, almost universally, with great suspicion. Those of us who embraced that vision put lots of effort into research that showed how virtual care delivery was of similar or …
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 »
Trust: A firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something I still recall my nascent days as a telehealth advocate, stretching back to the early 1990s. I often heard that telehealth would be most appropriate for rural communities because “they couldn’t access an in-person doctor.” I chafed at this point …
In my last blog, I introduced the concept of evidence gathering and the different pace and varying mindset between innovators and early-stage companies and the scientific community, and some reasons why the rigor of quality evidence is preferred over common sense and real-world observation. I’ll summarize that here. Of course, you can read the long …
More Observations on the Need for Evidence to Support Digital Health Adoption 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 …
