Telehealth regulations have been relaxed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering interest and support for virtual care owing to its benefits like convenience and safety.
Another less spoken advantage of telemedicine is the availability of specialists for patients especially suffering from chronic diseases like cancer.
Jenny Ahlstrom diagnosed with multiple myeloma says that virtual care can play a big role for people suffering from cancer and other chronic diseases.
Jenny mentioned, every year about 32,000 people will be diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of plasma cells. We have 50% of patients dying after five years despite advancement in treatments.
Ahlstrom says that myeloma patients are benefitted from access to specialists and second opinions. Telemedicine is a huge blessing to these kinds of cancer patients.
Her organization HealthTree.org asked 1,100 patients about their usage of virtual care when the pandemic began. By April or so, 60% said they had used telehealth as compared to 10% prior to COVID-19. This major impact is due to the facility to access specialists around the country.
They recommended patients to get a second opinion for every treatment. Due to the pandemic, travel can pose a potentially fatal danger especially for immunocompromised or senior people and myeloma patients. Thus, consulting a specialist through a video chat is safer. Also, physical exams are rare during such consultations.
Ahlstrom worries that regulations that were removed temporarily due to the pandemic might be reinstated. The future of regulations and payment for virtual care leads to uncertainty for providers since organizations like the American Medical Association have expressed dismay over the prospects of some telemedicine waivers being made permanent. This uncertainty affects patients as well.
She is experiencing a relapse and reached for telemedicine consultation in many states. At some facilities, she spoke to a specialist virtually. While others had stopped offering telemedicine. This inconsistency is a nightmare for patients, according to Ahlstrom.
Telemedicine could be restricted by certain modalities or treatments by policymakers but having a blanket rule doesn’t make sense.