Pandemic Sped Telehealth’s ‘Acceptance’ 5-10 Years: Doctor on Demand CEO

Telemedicine goes well beyond “just the coronavirus,” said Ferguson. “The whole industry has changed, everything from reimbursements to paying providers for telemedicine in places where that wasn’t possible” to relaxing interstate licensing restrictions, he said. Americans are aware of telemedicine “at much higher rates than they were before,” said Ferguson. Some 10% canvassed in December reported ever taking such a visit, he said. This summer, it jumped to 50%, he said: “Just massive increases of adoption over a relatively short period.”

Pre-pandemic, most people viewed it as “a convenient option to see a doctor when you couldn’t go see your regular doctor,” said Ferguson. “Now, with everyone used to living in a pandemic where staying indoors and social distancing is sort of the norm, you’ve seen telemedicine to get care has become the norm.”

Patients now regularly turn to these virtual visits to treat their “diabetic condition or a mental health issue,” said Ferguson. “We’ve got massive amounts of depression, anxiety and stress in our workforces and populations, like record levels of mental illness.” Ferguson thinks the “virtual care is really an excellent fit for mental illness,” he said. “Most people feel more comfortable speaking to a therapist from their home, not having to go out into an office environment where you might be uncomfortable.” Telemedicine can “improve the clinical experience” for mental health, he said. With physical health, the industry is learning that “much more can be treated virtually than was assumed,” he said.

Doctor on Demand “really jumped” on the government’s decision authorizing Medicare Part B coverage for virtual visits, becoming the first telemedicine company to treat seniors under the policy change, said Ferguson. It’s working to expand that by enabling “multiparty visits” so caregiver clients can “collaborate remotely” on telemedicine sessions with their elderly parents elsewhere, he said.

The company started tracking COVID-19 in January, “largely to understand what impact it would have on patient demand for our service,” said Ferguson. It worked closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February, developing a “health assessment that patients could use for free to determine what level of risk they might have” for the coronavirus, he said. “We started using that as a way to really cope with what became an onslaught of demand in March. We were ready for it in many ways, and not ready for it in others.”

Telemedicine is having a “defining moment,” with annual virtual visits expected to reach a billion by year-end, blogged Chris Gough, Intel worldwide general manager-health and life sciences. Intel thinks this is “just the beginning, with the number and acuity of conditions that can be effectively treated with telehealth services increasing over time,” said Gough. Though the adoption has been encouraging, “the healthcare industry needs to take steps to ensure its longevity and realize its potential,” because recent reports find virtual visits are declining “since peaking in April,” he said.

Healthcare professionals worry about the lack of “adequate technology to properly examine a patient or collect data remotely,” and Intel fears that’s a barrier, said Gough. “If there's a silver lining from the pandemic, it's that we now have proven solutions that have demonstrated their potential to integrate telehealth into our daily lives.” The next big priority will be to focus “on how to open access for enabling technologies that will allow for greater flexibility to bring this data to clinicians.”