Treatment for throat and mouth cancers, also referred to as oropharyngeal or head and neck cancers, will depend on location and stage of the cancer as well as other factors. Dr. Phillip Pirgousis, a Mayo Clinic head and neck surgeon, says patients have safer, less invasive surgical treatments available to them thanks to ongoing innovation.
“…telemedicine can improve through both sustaining innovation (incremental improvement upon what we are already doing for patients) and through disruptive innovation (simpler solutions for patients with simpler needs and/or patients we are not currently serving).”
Most telemedicine in its current form is a sustaining innovation. There has been incremental improvement in telecommunication technologies from the traditional phone to current videoconferencing software integrated with electronic medical records, development of secure platforms for short messaging service (SMS) between patients and providers, and introduction of connected devices that can monitor and transmit patients’ health data to their providers.
Beyond improving the way care is already delivered, telemedicine may also serve as a vehicle for disruption in overlooked health care markets, particularly low-end or new-market segments. Many customers are currently overserved by traditional care delivery in the form of regular visits (in-person or virtual) with a physician, which are structured to provide more than what they need and less of what they want.
A new recipe for patterning cells on a surface holds promise for spinal cord injuries. Video by the Office of Communications
Philips Virtual Care Station, inspired by the VA’s ATLAS program, is a community-based telehealth solution designed to expand access to high-quality care by connecting patients and providers remotely through a secure, clinical-grade environment.
From a John Locke Foundation article (May 13, 2020):
….with an eye toward the future, the authors offer recommendations for all interested parties to consider moving forward. These recommendations were informed by our research and a stakeholder meeting of industry groups who work with telehealth. These groups included Doctor on Demand, the American Medical Association, and the Center for Connected Health Policy. The paper’s recommendations are as follows:
COMMENTARY
Telemedicine is an “almost perfect” extension of Medical Care for the Covid epidemic (1). As we ease away from Panic, we will not be abandoning distancing, cleanliness, and other personal measures that keep us well. SARS-CoV-2, or the next Pandemic Virus will be lurking in the background.
Likewise, Medicine will always embrace Telemedicine for its’ convenience, safety, and efficiency, if we can overcome the roadblocks discussed in the above article.
One efficiency in particular, discussed in the previous RPA( from Australia) article stood out; the use of Nurse-triage to direct telephone (or someday audio-visual) Patients to the most appropriate destination; ER, Urgent Care, after-hours clinic, or home care.
The Schmidtt-Thompson protocol ( which guides triage) has been used since 1980, having stood the test of time and lawyers. It is available in electronic form, and when fully automated, it should be made available without cost.
Just imagine all of the unnecessary ER visits And Physician Visits potentially saved!
Telemedicine has indeed added convenience and safety in the Era ( it seems like forever) of Covid.
There are many Telemedicine ideas that will still be used when Covid hopefully takes its’ place in the Influenza immunization vial.
Doctors Without Waiting Rooms 