The Short-Term and Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on Tele-Medicine
July 9, 2020
In 2020 the global pandemic has required stay-at-home orders, and hospitals have become inundated with cases. Patients have had to skip non-essential doctor visits because of offices having been closed, or to avoid possible exposure to Covid-19. To deal with this, there has been a surge in the use of telehealth services. In March 2020 alone, there was a 50% jump in the number of patients using a telemedicine service instead of going to a doctor in person. In US? some analysts predict almost 1 billion virtual doctor visits in 2020. As this acceleration takes place, there are several issues to be examined. This webinar addressed the following:
- What are the major regulatory barriers slowing adoption of tele-medicine?
- Are there new privacy issues?
- Is there a role for governmental investment in telemedicine?
- After return to some normalcy, what will be the role of T-m?
- Does this create a two-tiered health system, where more affluent patients receive in-person care while poorer patients are pushed to virtual visits? Or is it the other way around?
- How will outsourcing be handled? Can doctors from out-of state and other countries be used?
- What effects will T-m have on the ICT infrastructure?
- What kind of problems have been encountered as TM scaled up?