In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought I’d write a post highlighting how telemedicine can benefit mothers caring for their children.
Many children can get up to 6 ear infections per a year. Everytime it happens, children complain, and inevitably mothers take their kids to the pediatrician. In most cases, the mother already knows what the problem is (because it’s frequent and easy to diagnose), but yet she has to drag her child to the doctor, leave the kid in a room full of other sick children for half an hour, only to spend 5 minutes with the pediatrician to get a prescription for antibiotics. Then she has to drive with her child to the pharmacy to pickup the medications, and then get her child back home. Meanwhile, she’s falling behind on work.
What a pain. I can’t imagine fighting that battle even once per year, let alone 6 times!
Healthcare shouldn’t be hard. And in my cases, such as the pediatric ear infection, it’s not. What if mothers bought a Cellscope, took a picture of her child’s ear, sent it to her doctor, then received antibiotics from PillPack the next day? Or better yet, what if the medications arrived via drone delivery within an hour?
I’m optimistic that 10 Mother’s Days from now, moms across the country won’t have to deal with so much frustration to solve what is such a simple problem.
I totally get it. I’m a mom. But I’m also a clinic administrator.
How do my providers get paid for this service, again?
Oh, that’s right, you never spoke to that.
See, Mr. Smart-IT-guy, until the dollars are connected to the tech, there is no incentive to do this. It may not be much, but even an ear infection pays – both copay and insurance.
We already do too much by phone – got a nurse on the phone and everything. And we are very tech savy at our place.
I also think it will lead to MORE over use of antibiotics. Patients/parents just want a quick fix, and this will feed that dysfunction.
#SueAnn, the reimbursement and regulatory landscapes are rapidly evolving in favor of remotely-delivered care. In roughly have the the states, legislation exists mandating private payer reimbursement for telehealth services. Insurers are starting to cover it as a a covered benefit. And the Federation of State Medical Boards recently unanimously ratified telehealth policy guidance in favor of telehealth.
The change is definitely coming. Healthcare can be slow; this is wildfire by comparison.