As the old saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, leading to the COVID-19 pandemic, has also led to the rapid adoption of virtual medicine. With a highly contagious disease infecting millions, people have been forced to stay home. That situation has driven the healthcare industry to come up with innovative ways to diagnose, advise, and treat patients remotely. Technology and healthcare entrepreneur Drew Schiller highlighted data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that illustrates how telemedicine exploded during the pandemic. Figures from the VA show that telehealth video appointments using VA Video Connect increased 1,000 percent between February and May of 2020. “Overnight, the industry just flipped from in-person to virtual, and it’s fantastic to see how fast we were able to make that switch,” said Schiller during the panel on telehealth. The advantage to this approach, according to Schiller, is that the system records continuous health information during a person’s daily life, not just point-in-time data measured in each physical visit. “This actually provides a more robust, comprehensive view of what’s happening in a person’s life,” says Schiller. He underscores that this type of tool does not replace in-person care but makes it more efficient. When a point-in-time measurement is wanted, the MedWand tool can be used to connect to a smartphone or tablet so that physicians can remotely check vital signs and other health parameters. MedWand features a digital stethoscope, an otoscope (for the ears), a dermatoscope (for the skin), a throat illuminator, and sensors to measure temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, and oxygen levels. “This handheld medical device allows us to examine patients anywhere over the internet,” said Samir Qamar, CEO of MedWand, in his session at CES. RELATED: MedWand Removes Geographical Barriers to Patient Care “Everyone went from saying, ‘Telehealth? What’s that? Is that for me?’ to ‘Virtual care is the future, it’s the present, and it’s part of my expectations for how I’m going to get care,” says Gorevic. “Overnight, our volume doubled.” After taking just a few minutes to sign up, people using Teladoc can connect with doctors, therapists, and specialists who can help with more minor health problems, such as the flu, infections, anxiety, stress, and skin conditions, and provide advice on getting help for serious medical problems that likely require in-person care. Today, more than 7,000 physicians are part of the Teladoc medical group, and healthcare systems and hospitals have been adopting the Teladoc technology platform to further the care they provide. In the same session, Varsha Rao, CEO of Nurx, elaborated on how her business has been able to target a younger market that is perhaps more readily open to embracing technology. With college health centers closing down during the pandemic, Nurx established an online “college hub” health service focusing on birth control, STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing, prevention, and treatment; and migraine treatment. “We’ve seen a tremendous number of college students coming to us looking for care that they were otherwise getting in their college communities,” says Rao.
Hospitals Improve Emergency Care Via Video Conferencing
For virtual medicine to succeed, healthcare providers need to embrace the technology, and CES sessions spotlighted how healthcare institutions have been integrating virtual technology into their systems. Rich Zane, MD, chief innovation officer and an emergency medicine specialist with UC Health, a 12-hospital system in Aurora, Colorado, highlighted how its Virtual Health Center is allowing physicians, nurses, and technicians to monitor patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Its Emergency Virtual Health technology enables specialists to consult with local emergency department physicians via video conferencing to help with specific patient emergencies such as stroke or trauma. “We call it telehealth and virtual health, but there’s nothing virtual about it,” says Dr. Zane. “What we are delivering is actual care. I would rather call it ‘technology-enabled actual care,’ but that just doesn’t come off the tongue quite as nicely as ‘virtual care’ or ‘telehealth.’” Like UC Health, Northwell Health, based in the New York City metropolitan area, has been focusing on incorporating telehealth into its healthcare system. Northwell has established the framework to offer patients virtual doctor visits and it, too, has systems to virtually connect specialists to patients seeking emergency care.
Mental Healthcare a Bright Spot for Telemedicine
Speaking at the session “Telemedicine Skyrockets to Mainstream,” Iris Berman, RN, vice president of telehealth services for Northwell, pointed to mental healthcare as one of the success stories in telemedicine. Berman told Everyday Health, “Telehealth is fabulous for behavioral health issues — it’s one of the best ways you can use it. We have a special room where patients go, and a facilitator makes sure the patient is safe. We make sure the equipment is ready to go, and we can pull in our psychiatrists at any time of day to have a behavioral health intervention.” Prior to telehealth, a psychiatric patient in the emergency room might spend 24 to 36 hours waiting for a psychiatrist to come in to see them, she adds. Telehealth counseling is also offered direct to patients in their homes.
Access Disparities Mean Telehealth Still Is Not Available to All
Berman stressed that challenges lie ahead for telemedicine. She would like to see greater broadband access and affordable devices delivered to underserved populations who may not always be able to get quality healthcare. “We need to be much more comprehensive in the way that we’re looking at access to telemedicine,” Berman says. According to Berman, technology will not replace the in-person doctor’s visit; it will only enhance the services the medical community can offer. “Doctors are still providing medical care, and they still have to know when they need to see a patient versus when they can use telehealth options,” she says.
