Dive Brief:
- Telemedicine is proving that it makes a big difference in the treatment and management of musculoskeletal disease.
- One of the most important things when using telemedicine to help patients with hard-to-manage conditions is to make sure the person helping them has the right kind of education. "If you have a knowledgeable presenter and a willing patient, most of the time it goes very well," Daniel L. Albert, M.D., a professor of medicine and pediatrics at Geisel Medical School in Hanover, New Hampshire, recently told Medscape.
- One of the most popular systems for musculoskeletal patients is a hybrid of telemedicine, which involves using both a videoconferencing tool and in-person visits. Even patients who don't like straight telemedicine seem able to find a middle ground with this.
Dive Insight:
Telemedicine is one of the most hyped-up technologies for the future of healthcare delivery. And with good reason.
Just last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $8.6 million in telehealth grants to rural healthcare groups—including $500,000 to the University of Iowa's eHealth Extension Network to provide 70 rural care facilities in the state with telehealth carts that include cameras and video-conferencing software. This kind of financial support can help ensure that patients in remote parts of the country have access to healthcare services otherwise reserved for more populous areas.
However, there are still reimbursement concerns that may be slowing telehealth adoption, suggests a September report from the American Telemedicine Association.