Original Research
Implementation and Evaluation of a Neurology Telemedicine Initiative at a Major Academic Medical Center
Telemedicine in Primary Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Provider and Patient Satisfaction Examined
A weekly podcast on the latest medical, science and telehealth news.
Continuing the AMA’s “Look Forward/Look Back” series, AMA CXO Todd Unger talks with Meg Barron, the AMA’s vice president of digital health strategy, about the role of telehealth post-pandemic and a new program that can help practices optimize and expand their telehealth efforts.
A weekly podcast on the latest medical, science and telehealth news.
“…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.
It’s like an auto mechanic running a diagnostic test on your car’s engine while it’s out of the garage and traveling down the road. Wearable heart monitors are valuable tools that cardiologists use to determine if you are experiencing atrial fibrillation, which is your heart beating at an irregular or rapid rhythm.
National MENtion It® campaign examines shift toward the use of virtual healthcare after Cleveland Clinic sees 37,000 virtual visits in 2019 increase to 1.2 million in 2020.
A new national survey by Cleveland Clinic reveals that some men prefer seeing their doctor virtually, especially when it comes to discussing men’s health issues.
According to the survey, 44% of all men said they prefer discussing sexual health issues with a doctor online or over the phone because they are too embarrassed to do it in person, and 66% of all men have used digital health services in the past 12 months. Cleveland Clinic, which went from 37,000 virtual visits in 2019 to 1.2 million in 2020, is fully open for in-person care but continues to see the trend toward increased use of virtual healthcare in 2021.
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A year ago, we estimated that up to $250 billion of US healthcare spend could potentially be shifted to virtual or virtually enabled care. Approaching this potential level of virtual health is not a foregone conclusion. It would likely require sustained consumer and clinician adoption and accelerated redesign of care pathways to incorporate virtual modalities.
Doctors Without Waiting Rooms 