Telehealth

A Covid Effect

During the pandemic, most (or all) of my patients had to switch over to telehealth to see their providers. Like most of the country, doctor offices shut down. Thankfully telehealth was incorporated fairly seamlessly and the patients adapted quickly to this new form of healthcare.

Patient Responses

In fact when I would counsel my patients, they would tell me they had their appointment with the doctor while they laid on the couch in their pajamas. Most said they preferred seeing their doctor this way, which is understandable. I don’t know a single person who likes sitting in the waiting room, filled with sick patients. 

My Experience

Personally I jumped on the telehealth bandwagon as well. During a trip to Colorado I got sick and downloaded Teladoc, created a profile and saw a doctor all within 1 hour. It was the easiest experience, there are a few other apps that I considered but Teladoc was in my network. Something that I didn’t realize is that the doctors working for these Telehealth platforms are licensed in so many states, I couldn’t help thinking about how much money it must cost to renew all those licenses. I did a preliminary screening, took a picture of myself, and then showed my license to verify my identity. The doctor came on and asked me a few questions, I had a pretty good idea of what I had going on so the appointment was really quick.

The Future

Is there any going back from Telehealth? I would say not likely! Telehealth became popular during the pandemic and after a period of adjustment I can say with a certainty that it's here to stay!