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KEY CLINICAL UPDATES IN TELEMEDICINE
The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has produced an explosion in the use of telehealth. In the United States, video visits that had previously not been reimbursed by government-sponsored payment programs became reimbursable.
In addition to the obvious need to be “in person” for a phlebotomy, electrocardiogram, or other procedure, concerns have arisen about whether some diagnostic testing (eg, cancer screening) or another vital health care maintenance procedure (eg, scheduled vaccination) may now be underutilized because it is now comparatively inconvenient.
Other aspects of practice management, such as completion of forms, scheduling, and follow-up, are being moved to “virtual” platforms, which will gradually make remote care more complete and sustainable.
It remains to be seen whether the changes to policy and to reimbursement implemented during the pandemic will be reversed with return to a post-pandemic “new normal” or will be made permanent.
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Telemedicine is the use of information and communications technologies to provide health care when distance separates the participants. Clinicians have been practicing telemedicine over the telephone since the telephone was invented. Video telemedicine applications initially focused on interactive video to connect patients and referring clinicians in remote locations with specialists in urban tertiary care centers, although primary and secondary care clinicians now regularly offer video telemedicine to any patient. The current generation of telemedicine applications expands the remote clinician's capabilities beyond diagnosis to therapeutic interventions. Telesurgery, remote psychotherapy, and virtual home visits to manage chronic medical problems have all been demonstrated, although prior to the SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic, deployment had grown only modestly in most regions. Multiple websites describe these and other innovative uses of telemedicine for interested clinicians to explore (Table e3–3).
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The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic produced in many countries an explosion in the use of telehealth, as restrictions on local travel, and the desire to keep patients physically separated from one another and from their clinicians, made real-time video care an essential tool. Further, in the United States, emergency changes to government-sponsored payment programs that had previously not reimbursed most video visits fostered rapid adoption. As patients began adopting video teleconferencing software for education, work, and socialization, this familiarity with the technology had positive spillover effects on their willingness to use these same technologies to receive health care.
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As the pandemic persisted, the limitations on a “mostly video” care relationship became increasingly apparent. Much of the physical examination, particularly in otolaryngology, ophthalmology, ...