According to a recent Gallup poll, 4 in 5 Americans believe it's risky to go to health care facilities right now. Telemedicine provides a safer alternative, but for some technology-challenged people, that might not be an option.
When the pandemic made in-person medical appointments difficult (to say the least), Karen Smith, a family physician in Raeford, North Carolina, knew she had to find a way to stay in touch with her patients. The state has the lowest rate of home broadband reach in the country, and in Smith’s town, nearly 40 percent of households lack internet.
When COVID-19 safety protocols shifted whole sectors of the health care industry from in-person visits to a telehealth model, Arjun and Hannah Verma watched their parents - a pulmonologist and a cardiologist - fret about some of their elderly patients who were unprepared for the switch. The elder Vermas were concerned that their patients who didn't own camera-enabled devices or know how to use videoconferencing platforms would be forced to forgo critical care.
The explosion of telehealth following the coronavirus outbreak may be here to stay. The Ohio Department of Medicaid announced on Tuesday that it is seeking to permanently expand telehealth options for the more than 3 million poor and disabled residents insured through the tax-funded program.
The nation's highest health officials are trumpeting the success of telemedicine addiction treatment during the coronavirus pandemic. In a new interview with KATU News, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the exception made at the federal level has "certainly expanded availability, especially in rural areas for people to be able to get into and remain in medication-assisted treatment, which is the gold standard of treatment for individuals."
Hazel Health was founded five years ago to provide telemedicine services to children in public schools. Launched by a former Apple software engineer and serial entrepreneur, Nick Woods, and named after one of Woods’ children, Hazel Health has grown to work with school districts responsible for 1.5 million children, and has raised $33.5 million to expand its footprint even further across the United States.