You, like millions of other Americans, probably saw your doctor virtually over the past year, meeting over your phone or computer. The events of 2020 changed how we interact with our healthcare providers. We stayed home, both to help control the spread of COVID and to help the over-run healthcare system.
Suddenly, my doctors entered my home via computer, making our connection relaxed, convenient and easy for me; but what’s missing, of course, is what we might call the “physician’s touch,” something that we suddenly could not risk.
Beyond COVID, there were two changes, somewhat behind the scene, aiding telemedicine’s recent rapid adoption.
- Payments for telemedicine visits were approved by Medicare, as well as many health insurers.
- Clinicians, licensed and in good standing in one state, were granted, under bipartisan legislation, emergency rights to treat patients across state lines.
Now as we get vaccinated and emerge, hopefully, into a largely post-COVID America, we’re likely making office appointments and catching up on care needs. You might be asking whether this huge experiment in telemedicine, forced by COVID, might really be a good thing for our care? Would choice help people in certain situations? Are outcomes improved? Are costs reduced?
Most providers are working to define best practices for incorporating telemedicine into the health ecosystem. Most patients welcome having choices on how to connect around their care.
At ALICEhelps, we see the widespread availability of telemedicine as one more step toward empowering patients. Our secure, HIPAA-compliant technology is designed to put you, regardless of how you connect, at the center of your care by giving you voice. And, if you cannot physically speak, ALICEhelps you say: this is who I am, this is my story, and this is what’s important to me.
Join the waitlist to be among the first to access ALICEhelps when it launches.
Joanne Nelson
Thank you…this material is balanced and provides comfortable room for the person needing care and the care provider…beautiful concepts!!!