HJNO Nov/Dec 2020

Margaret “Peggy” O’Kane, president, Na- tional Committee for QualityAssurance, in an article published in Modern Healthcare on Sept. 21, 2020. “In a difficult healthcare economy tele- health helped providers maintain revenue streams by allowing clinics to remain open and seeing patients through video con- ferencing where in the past they would’ve been closed for two to three months often leading to support staff layoffs and even physician and clinic insolvency,”saidWilk- low. The current COVID-19 crisis and result- ing social distancing have made access to healthcare more challenging throughout southeast Louisiana, but due to advance- ments in mobile technology, many south- east Louisiana physicians and telemedi- cine were ready for the challenge. “As a health system we went from less than 500 telemedicine visits a month in February 2020 to over 20,000 in April 2020,” said Scott Mackey, DO, associate chief medical information officer, LCMC Health. “We are now doing telemedicine in almost all areas and specialties includ- ing inpatient, emergency and ambulatory. Without a doubt, the ability to pivot to tele- medicine kept many people with access to their doctors during this pandemic.” Actions taken by state and national healthcare leaders today will determine if the full potential of telemedicine is real- ized after the pandemic has passed. In ad- dition, beyond patient care, telemedicine now provides a feasible option for Louisi- ana physicians to remain in medicine who might otherwise need to transition from in-person patient care due to physical lim- itations or age. Orleans and Jefferson Parish Medical Societies plan to provide members with going content, updates and education to help physicians adapt to the evolution of telemedicine. n mation can be communicated safely to their physician, who can determine an effective course of treatment without any need for human contact. Medicare recent- ly approved the allowance of clinicians to provide telehealth services for patients throughout Louisiana, which provides much financial relief to seniors and those eligible for Medicare through disabilities. “Patients were able to maintain a direct contact with their providers and follow up on important acute and chronic medical conditions which required close moni- toring,” said Wilklow. “It also allowed for the maintenance of the personal connec- tion between the provider and the patient and often several moments were spent during the telehealth video conference with the patient and their family express- ing their concern for the providers safety in the setting of COVID virus exposure to healthcare providers and their gratitude for being a healthcare provider during the COVID-19 healthcare crisis.” According to a May 29, 2020, report published by McKinsey & Company, in 2019 only 11 percent of patients nationwide were using telemedicine. By May of 2020, nearly half of in-person office visits had been converted to telemedicine. Clinicians saw 50 to 175 times the number of patients via telemedicine than they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, tele- medicine has also brought some relief to physicians who were concerned about lost revenue throughout this most challenging time in our history. “The nation has witnessed unimaginable pain and loss at the hands of the coronavi- rus. Still, we have adapted and survived. In some cases, we may find our way to a bet- ter tomorrow because of these challenges. We owe it to those who have sacrificed so much in 2020 to maximize these opportu- nities and build a stronger, more resilient healthcare system. Expanded telehealth is a promising tool for getting there,” said Frank Wilklow, MD Josh Lowentritt, MD Mehdi Qalbani, MD 46 NOV / DEC 2020 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS MEDICAL SOCIETY