No, telemedicine does not limit access to care

Common concerns about telemedicine do not stand up to scrutiny, according to new research highlighting the effectiveness of telemedicine.

This paper is one of two studies on telemedicine. NEJM catalystA second study shows the success of efforts to provide mental health services to nursing homes via a hybrid model that includes telemedicine.

“For patients, the message is clear and reassuring. Telemedicine is an effective and efficient way to receive different types of care. Health careKathleen Fear, lead author of the original paper and director of data and analysis at the University of Rochester Institute of Health, said.

“Especially for those with transportation issues, this is a service that really bridges the gap and, importantly, does not compromise the quality of care patients receive.”

for first researchFear et al. used data generated in part by the COVID pandemic to rapidly expand telemedicine services by health care providers across the country and examined three specific telemedicine concerns.

• Reducing access to care for the most vulnerable patients. can’t access digital service.
• Providers who reimburse telemedicine services at the same rate as traditional services encourage abuse of telemedicine.
• That telemedicine is not an effective way to provide care.

“When we combed through the data, all three concerns were disproved, which is very interesting,” says Fear. “Not only were our most vulnerable patients not left behind, they were among the most involved. benefit most From, telemedicine services.

“There was no worsening of outcomes, no increase in costs, or more patients requiring in-person follow-up. We also found no evidence of overuse. care and equitable care for vulnerable populations.”

Senior author Michael Hasselberg, chief digital health officer at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said the paper provides the first comprehensive data to refute three myths limiting telemedicine adoption nationwide. It shows that it has been announced.

The researchers used data from January to June 2021 as a follow-up period to compare data from July to December 2020. Their analyzes included a review of patient demographics, outcomes, provider use, completed visits, and more.

“For our providers, the main concern with telemedicine has always been, ‘What am I going to miss if I can’t sit in the same room as the patient?’” says Fear.

“However, we did not see an increase in negative outcomes. It is clear that it can be used as a very effective complement to conventional care.”

of secondary research We focused on a program developed by physicians at the University of Rochester Medical Center to provide psychiatric and psychotherapeutic resources to nursing home patients through a combination of telehealth, onsite visits, and staff education. The program has improved access to care and reduced the number of residents requiring antipsychotics, researchers say.

“With a small team assembled here at URMC, we were able to achieve significant reach by providing care to some patients in underserved states of quality mental health services,” he said. Author Adam Simning says: , assistant professor of psychiatry.

“Suddenly nursing home Due to the acute shortage of manpower nationwide and the increasing need for mental health services among residents, we efficiently redesigned the way mental health services are delivered to over 50 nursing homes. ”

Hasselberg, who was also senior author of the Nursing Home Study, said both papers resonated in the medical community, encouraging payers and policy makers to continue and expand pandemic-era policies to enable the growth of telemedicine services. I believe that

sauce: University of Rochester