Telemedicine: A new era of health care
I am a geriatric nurse practitioner with four years of experience working with short-term rehabilitation patients. Since COVID-19, we have been using telemedicine as a part of post-discharge phone calls to reduce hospitalization. Telemedicine made a huge impact in rehospitalization. I am here to urge the public to support the telemedicine bill as a permanent benefit of Part B Medicare.
The expanded access to telemedicine since the pandemic creates a new era of medicine, even though telemedicine was with us far before the pandemic for patients living in remote areas, too sick to get to a provider or those who have no transportation. The demand of telemedicine now is everywhere; it is the present and future means of care to avoid unnecessary hospital visits. Since COVID-19 started, the interest and accessibility has risen drastically.
Our telemedicine discharge phone calls are usually within 24-48 hours after discharge. It is a 30-minute visit with a nurse practitioner to assess blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, oxygen saturation, pain level and weight. Home safety is an important part of the visit. This telemedicine visit includes family members, home care nurses, aides, and physical therapists. It is a collaborative effort to keep patients in their home and reduce hospital readmissions.
Patients go home with multiple devices that are set up to connect to the provider anytime. On the post-discharge call, providers go through the discharge medications list, side effects, dosages, follow-up appointments, vital signs and blood sugar readings. This telemedicine follow-up assists patients in having a good transition between discharge from the facility and seeing their primary care provider. Telemedicine plays a critical role in reducing hospitalizations, especially among the elderly.
Telemedicine has many advantages, among them decreased health care costs, savings in time and money for traveling, increased patient-provider satisfaction, decreased hospital visits, less exposure
to germs and the potential for improved quality care.
In July the House passed a bill (Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act of 2022) that modifies the extension of certain Medicare telehealth flexibilities after the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency. The bill provides that certain flexibilities continue to apply until Dec. 31, 2024, if the emergency period ends before that date, among them that beneficiaries continue to receive telehealth services at any site, regardless of type or location (e.g., the beneficiary’s home).
It is evident that patients view telehealth
as an important modality for their health care needs. If telehealth is effective during a pandemic, it can be effective afterward, too. The current focus on telehealth may be about COVID-19, but we need to think about it as a permanent, integrated care delivery system.
Telemedicine is a great innovation in health care that expands access to care for more people who need it while providing specialty care for people who otherwise can’t get it. People are the key to success in any health care delivery system. The government should continue current reimbursement practices and continue to expand the range of health offerings such
as behavioral health services and specialty care to patients permanently.
We need public support to pass the bill as telemedicine should be part of Medicare Part B. Patients could choose between an in-person visit and telemedicine as their Medicare Part B benefits. This way, the provider is able to bill to get the appropriate reimbursements, improve quality health care, reduce hospitalization and increase innovative technology and patient satisfaction.