The three-part challenge of a pandemic

For medical practices nationwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a three-part challenge.

• How and to what extent can they manage to stay open for business while protecting the health of providers and staff?
• How do they continue to serve patients when so many of them are apprehensive about making a physical office visit?
• If a practice does find a way to continue operations, how can they make sure patient volume and insurance claims will be enough to support the practice financially?

The upbeat and warm sound of last year’s hit “Swingin’ Down the Lane” by Isham Jones fills the quiet of your parlor as you remove the stethoscope from your neck and lower the volume on your new radio. As you sit in a chair as angular as a Picasso, you pick up the latest copy of Radio News magazine and shake your head in wonder.

On the cover of the April 1924 edition of the magazine, three children are seated in front of a square system with two dials, a flaring horn, and a screen in the center of the contraption. With mouths wide open, the kids are saying “Ahh” as the image of a suited doctor equipped with robotic fingers like the metallic tentacles of the Martian ships from The War of the Worlds is projected onto a screen. Hugo Gernsback named this invention the teledactyl.

The role of chronic disease management

Although the cost has been high, the coronavirus pandemic has illustrated how much societies around the globe share — and how they can come together to improve health.

As telehealth usage continues to grow amid the COVID-19 pandemic, practices everywhere are finding new and exciting ways to expand their access to care.

Imagination reshaping healthcare

Much attention has focused on how public health authorities and politicians are coordinating policies, equipment, and supplies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

As healthcare professionals around the world continue to work tirelessly to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, telehealth continues to become a leading force in providing remote care to patients.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, practices that have adopted healow TeleVisits™ are finding telehealth technology to be a useful and essential means of bringing quality care to their patients – in one case even saving a life.

COVID-19 pandemic drives surge in telehealth

In 2007, Nassim Nicholas Taleb published “The Black Swan,” a study of the impact of highly improbable events. The COVID-19 pandemic is a black swan that has reshaped daily life around the globe and will leave a lasting impact on medical practices.

Televisits have been very helpful in bringing high-quality care and a level of assurance to patients during this trying time. At Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians, the largest physician-owned medical group in Ohio, 400 providers are utilizing healow TeleVisits™ to provide care to more than 450,000 patients.

Renewed focus on the doctor/patient relationship

The worldwide coronavirus pandemic has had a deep and likely lasting impact on societies around the world. In addition to the loss of life, markets have been shaken, and daily routines disrupted. The impact on healthcare has been sudden and dramatic, with a major and ongoing shift to technologies that can facilitate the delivery of care remotely.

Social distancing is a key factor in reducing the spread of the coronavirus, and healow TeleVisits™ are a safe and secure means for providers to care for their patients. Dallas Renal Group, a 40+ provider practice consisting of 14 locations throughout Texas and Oklahoma, has been actively using healow TeleVisits since the COVID-19 pandemic started.

Pandemic spurs action in Congress, leads to waivers

Extraordinary times demand extraordinary responses. The coronavirus pandemic has sparked quick action from Congress, providing monetary assistance to the healthcare community as well as easing regulations.

Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians is the largest physician-owned medical group in Ohio, with 400 providers and serving more than 450,000 patients. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, physicians at COPCP needed a safe and effective way to care for their patients. healow TeleVisits™ have been that option – with over 80% of all appointments at COPCP now being televisit appointments.

Providers and patients welcoming telehealth

When a crisis occurs, those who can quickly adapt to the situation are usually the ones who remain successful. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Trusted Doctors, a 70-provider pediatric practice with 13 locations throughout Northern Virginia, had not been using healow TeleVisits™ regularly.