Telemedicine decreased from its Covid-led surge, how can it retain its Importance in Health Plans?

Nicholas Tarazi - Founder, MedCallProShow more

my911.com

Because of Covid fear telemedicine exploded in the last couple years - from single digits up to a third of all primary care consultations.

Previous to the hysteria, telemedicine already was rising in importance, as families learned a quick call or Skype to a virtual doctor could get them the advice or prescription that would take otherwise several hours of travel and a Waiting Room - just to get the same advice or prescription.

It’s a little-known fact that 70% of all urgent care and emergency room visits are unnecessary. If those patients had access to a doctor over the phone, more than 95% of those patients would have their health issues resolved on the first call. If the patient needed to call back, he or she would most likely have 100% healthcare resolution.
Why? Most illnesses are really about preventive care. For example, if one has a fever, what should they take? Or, if one has a sore throat, chest congestion, or rash, what should he or she do? Many questions are from parents trying to help their children.

Indeed, with MedCallPro, a family doesn’t even need insurance. Just a simple membership grants that family 24/7 access to care, regardless of location.

That said, health care is a cartel, and anytime a disruptive force challenges the status quo, politics steps in to protect the status quo. States grudgingly allowed during the Declared Emergency out-of-state doctors to offer telemedicine services in another state. The Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity is lobbying to make permanent this expansion of virtual medicine.

The maturity of telemedicine has led to market-based improvements as well - namely more specialists offering remote treatments unless in-person visits are needed. Some of us hope telemedicine will offer more integrated (natural) options. Others use nurses, and some seek a seamless “Direct Primary Care” like a continuation-of-care model. MedCallPro sees an advantage in using emergency-trained personnel as the first-line triage when getting a call from a patient. It’s exciting to see the diversity as telemedicine scales to a larger aspect of the total health market. Mr. Tarazi will offer lessons learned on state-of-the-art telemedicine.