INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
A telemedicine check-up A look at some survey data BY DAVID HOLT, JD
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elemedicine use has expanded rapidly across the United States, largely due to pandemic-related necessity and the challenges posed by in-clinic visits. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Minnesota health agencies, and professional boards quickly moved to loosen restrictions and issue “waivers” for compliance with telemedicine guidelines. Following Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’ Emergency Executive Order 20-01 declaring a peacetime emergency related to COVID19, the Minnesota Commissioner of Human Services was granted temporary authority by the Governor to waive or modify certain requirements in order to provide essential programs and services during the pandemic, and the Legislature enacted several laws. This article will look at some of the challenges and benefits from Minnesota’s experience with telemedicine thus far.
Pluses and minuses The benefits and drawbacks of telemedicine quickly became apparent as some medical providers were forced to quickly adopt telemedicine to keep their practices running. More data is accumulating rapidly, since the
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COVID-19 pandemic introduced many Americans to telemedicine for the first time. In 2019, in the pre-COVID-19 world, a telehealth study noted that while 9.6% of Americans had used telehealth services, nearly three-fourths (74.3%) said they either don’t have access or are unaware of a telehealth option, according to the 2019 J.D. Power Telehealth Satisfaction Study (https://tinyurl.com/mp-jd-power). Unsurprisingly, patients 65 years old and older—among the populations at highest risk from the virus—were less likely to use telemedicine, representing the lowest utilization rate of any age group (5.3% of those surveyed). The main benefit during the COVID-19 pandemic, of course, is that patients can continue to receive medical care from the comfort of their home without risking exposure to COVID-19 during an in-office visit. Another benefit of telemedicine is the increased access to providers, when distance and geography are eliminated as a barrier. When the telemedicine laws were first passed across the country at the state and federal levels, lawmakers emphasized that telemedicine would increase access to care to rural communities. One limitation of this benefit is that the rural expansion of telemedicine generally relies on a stable internet connection, which is not always reliable. This may not all be about the delivery methods, but rather
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SEPTEMBER 2020 MINNESOTA PHYSICIAN
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