The COVID-19 pandemic has confronted the healthcare system with daunting challenges and tragically exposed significant problems. But with these great trials came the opportunity for our medical professionals to meet adversity with innovative solutions that widen our healthcare horizons.
On that score, the easing of outdated telehealth restrictions was a slam dunk. Among the most pressing concerns we had to face during this pandemic was how routine and elective care could be delivered while people were being encouraged to stay home.
To flatten the curve while also making sure basic healthcare needs were still being met, physicians had to rethink the way they delivered care. There was just one problem: Archaic laws prevented telemedicine, technologies that have been around for decades, from being widely accessible.
But with help from state and federal officials, outdated laws were temporarily relaxed to allow more people access to groundbreaking technology that let them consult their doctors from the safety of their own homes.
It also helped save patients precious time and money in the process, so consumer adoption climbed sharply — from 11% in 2019 to 46% today. And consumers were open to even greater possibilities than just replacing canceled in-person visits, as 76% expressed an interest in telehealth generally. Healthcare providers have scrambled to see dozens of times the number of patients via telehealth than before the pandemic.
Nearly a decade before the current crises, I recognized that there were more efficient and effective ways to deliver care and end healthcare disparities. This revelation led me to co-found Sharecare, a company that is helping to pave the way in telemedicine reform by “bringing the exam room to your living room,” something that is needed now more than ever.
Early in the pandemic, Sharecare surveyed 115,000 people and found that 38% of respondents said COVID-19 had negatively affected their access to healthcare. When asked if they were postponing in-person doctor visits to lessen the spread of coronavirus, 27% said yes.
With regulatory barriers now out of the way, Sharecare is helping physicians help these patients.
The platform utilizes guided search and decision-support technology to help users identify potential problems, then connects them with a doctor via live video chat, allowing them to bypass risky office visits and lessen the spread of the virus.
Telemedicine might be commonly associated with video calls or texts to physicians, but it comes in many forms. When COVID-19 was disrupting supply chains, Zipline provided on-demand drone delivery of essential medical supplies.
For patients who are admitted to “hospital at home” programs, Zipline delivers medications and supplies when the patient needs them. If you have a virtual appointment with your doctor who then prescribes medication, Zipline ensures delivery within 30 minutes.
Ventec Life Systems is another major telehealth player, producing compact, easy-to-use portable ventilators that provide hospital-level care at home. During a time when access to lifesaving ventilators has become a grave concern, Ventec Life Systems is partnering with General Motors to accelerate the manufacturing of their ventilators to provide respiratory support to those who need it.
These companies are doing incredible work. But they are only now beginning to scratch the surface of what can be done. Prior to the pandemic, the total annual revenues of U.S. telehealth players were an estimated $3 billion, but with the extension of telehealth beyond virtual urgent care, that could reach $250 billion.
So, how do we continue to build on this momentum now that we’ve had a glimpse of the future? We should start by making these temporary reforms permanent. Soon, short-term solutions that relaxed regulatory burdens on the delivery of telemedicine will expire, and many patients will lose access to this avenue of care.
We should not let this happen. At the federal level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has already approved 80 new services and removed restrictions such as outdated regulations on the originating site of the consultation, as well as granting payment parity between telehealth and in-person clinical care for Medicare.
But the main barriers are not at the federal level. Medicaid and commercial reimbursement, as well as credentialing, are controlled by the states and only 20% require payment parity between telemedicine and in-person services.
We don’t know when this pandemic will be over, and the need for telehealth will undoubtedly increase as we continue practicing social distancing measures.
There will always be some emergencies that require an in-person visit. But in medical school, future physicians are taught that conversing with a patient and learning their medical history is among the most essential aspects of a visit. Telemedicine still allows for this critical dialogue to occur.
As we take stock of what worked and what didn’t during this crisis, loosening unnecessary restrictions on telemedicine will surely stand out as the no-brainer we should have supported much sooner.
We’ve now seen the potential for telemedicine to help far more patients than before. It’s time to move forward and make these reforms permanent.
Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) is an attending physician at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the host of The Dr. Oz Show.
