Telehealth

So I did my presentation on COVID-19 and telehealth.

So first off what is telehealth or telemedicine.

Um Tell him give me a wide variety of things.

Most people think of chatting with your doctor whether

it be via phone call or video chat.

It also can be sending and receiving messages from your healthcare providers.

Whether that be through text message, email or electronic health systems.

So um for example all true uses

my chart to communicate with patients.

It also can be remote monitoring.

So a doctor can prescribe a machine or whatever it might be to a patient and

the patient keeps at home and then the doctor is able to monitor from afar.

So if you have high blood pressure

your doctor would prescribe a blood pressure cuff to you

and um you would take your blood pressure once or twice a day

and the machine would automatically send the results to your doctor.

And your doctor could

um like look at those and decide if they need to

change your medicine or what next steps need to be done.

Um

So some drawbacks and limitations to telehealth.

Not everyone has access to the internet or a computer.

Some people don't feel comfortable using a computer.

Um Like the older generation.

Ah

they just might

Not be comfortable using one. So

having to visit with their doctor over.

Computer screen might just not be for them.

Um

And not all visits are possible either you can't

do blood tests or x rays or cat scans over

over zoom.

And also there's the um security of personal information

whether

hackers are a thing and

you're

your health issues are personal and you want those to

continue

to

be private.

Um And then insurance might not cover all of the expenses. Um

Each state differs and

so I'll get more into that in the social sciences aspect.

So some positives

It's very convenient.

Um you don't have to drive 30 minutes across town

and then wait another 20 minutes in the waiting room.

You just hop on your computer two minutes before your appointment.

You do your appointment and then you can log off.

Um So it's

super convenient. Easy quick.

Um

Also it's very nice um for people with

mobility issues whether they're in a wheelchair or

what not, they don't have to worry about finding a ride.

They don't have to worry about navigating through the hospital.

They are able to just chat with their doctor over

um tell her

telehealth via telehealth.

And it's also nice with people with

immune disorders or compromised immune systems.

Um You're not waiting in the doctor's office full of

in the waiting room full of sick people.

Um So I just

protects you

and then it's also nice for people with limited access to doctors so whether that

be rural residents or even people who live in a like an isolated community.

Um

A lot of like reservations they could use telehealth to um

communicate with doctors. It's also I know in the limitations.

I said that insurance might not cover it. Also it might be more expensive

but as a positive, it also might save you money in the long run.

Um If you use the remote monitoring

through telehealth,

you're not having doctors appointments once a week to check your blood pressure.

You're doing it

maybe once a month or

maybe just one time your doctor prescribes the machine to you and then

they can monitor and change your medication as your blood pressure changes and

you don't have to see them again for another six months.

So moving on into COVID 19,

So COVID-19 pandemic. It sparked a lot of social distancing.

Um there's so many stay at home orders school is canceled.

People were sent home from college.

Um

People where people were working from home

um

it's extremely contagious. So um

they were worried about

worried about people that are at risk or

just infecting everybody in the population.

So I put a graph here of the two

years of corona coronavirus deaths in the United States.

Um I think the last date on here is February 20, 2022

With 937,000 deaths. While now in May, I think it's over one million.

Um which is

which is really crazy.

So

before um

before the pandemic telehealth was not as widely available.

There was a lot of laws that prevented providers from using table

health and just for the security purpose of purpose of things.

Um

Lawmakers were worried that

Doctors were like faking credentials or overcharging um one they used telehealth

and then um

a lot of people didn't even know telehealth was an option for them.

So now like during in the midst of the pandemic,

a lot of states um lessen their restrictions so whether that be

the governor put in executive orders or declared a state of emergency

um

tell about the restrictions were kind of lessened and then

um more providers were able to use them more frequently

so um it wasn't just primary care providers using it,

Mental health professionals so you can visit your counselor over telehealth.

Um

Also um different professions like social work are starting to use it

and then after telehealth is here to stay, there's no getting rid of it now.

Um

a lot of states have removed their state

of emergency or executive orders that allowed or

lessen the restrictions on telehealth.

So now the steps

to come are,

but what the federal and state legislators are looking at so

that telehealth can be more widely available but also controlled,

so people aren't

getting scammed.

Okay,

so I'm moving on to the social sciences so it

plays a role in what's available for patients and providers

um

like what providers can use it what they can

use it for and then also costs and reimbursements.

Um Some of the laws um in place say that only certain

telehealth visits are covered whether it be through private payer or Medicaid

and other times

it might not be covered at all. So

so how do lawmakers play into this? Every state is different?

So for example,

Connecticut requires Medicaid to reimburse for all forms of telehealth,

whether it be remote monitoring,

visits,

communicating through electronic health systems.

Um And then other states say that the only telehealth that is covered

is real time, audio or video,

so remote monitoring is not even a possibility or for reimbursement for patients.

And then state lawmakers are really just making

the best decisions that best fit their state.

So states with like high rural populations allow telehealth

um

and have less restrictions. So I think it's Arkansas

um they say that a patient's home can actually be a healthcare site,

so if the patients at home visiting through telehealth,

remote monitoring or whatever it may be,

um All of those,

all of those costs are covered through

Medicaid, Medicare

or um private payer.

So really each state is different

and I'm sure each state will continue to change.

So currently

there's consolidated appropriations Act of

2022 and it extends flexibility for 150 days after the public health

emergency ended. Um The

The health emergency ended in April.

So now we have another 150 days where

Medicare will cover the cost of all telehealth expenses

and the expands telehealth practitioners. So um

not only is your primary care provider able to meet with you, but always

different types of therapy,

whether it be PT or physical therapy or occupational therapy,

ah

psychiatry, those kind of things.

So.

Telehealth

Chapters

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