Stumbled upon this post and video this morning. This is validation of exactly what 1-800MD is doing. Even Mayo Clinic is looking to reduce cost and improve access to care using telemedicine.
Credit to 3GDoctor Blog which is where I found this.
Archive for the ‘Telemedicine’ Category
Effective eConsultations
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010How Many Things are Wrong with You??
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010How often do you go to the doctor? If you are like me you don’t go often because it is inconvenient and expensive. Health issues tend to pile up. When something comes along for which I really need immediate treatment, I make an appointment and I go. Now, the national average cost for a visit to the doctor’s office is about $65. That, however, does not tell the whole story. If I go in for a sore throat and I am seeking an antibiotic, I also do a “health care dump”. “Doc I have a sore throat, but there is more. My elbow hurts, I have a mole on my arm I would like you to look at, allergy season is coming and I need a new antihistamine, and I am about out of my asthma medication.” My doctor listens intently and taps away on this little electronic note pad. He then diagnoses and prescribes something for each of my illnesses. Each malady is an International Classification of Disease (ICD). Each prescription is a Common Procedural Terminology (CPT). For every CPT, the doctor is reimbursed. So, when I go in for my sore throat which should cost me $65, I walk out of there with a bill for $300! This leads me to my second observation. Insurance co-pays are going away in all but the most “cadillac” of insurance plans. The co-pay will be replaced by higher deductibles. For most people the significance of this is lost, but when you combine the “health care dump” to the end of co-pays, you get a very significant monetary event. Before, I paid $15 to $25 for my co-pay and I could tell the doctor everything that was bothering me. I would do so because it was convenient and because I was making the best use of my co-pay. The insurance company paid the remaining $285 for the CPTs. Now, if I have failed to exceed my deductible, I have to pay the entire $300. It shifts the cost burden away from the insurance company and on to the consumer. In some ways, this is a good thing. It forces the consumer of medical services to shop for a better deal in health care. However, it could mean that I opt not to have the doctor help me with my elbow or take a look at the mole. Maybe I do without the asthma treatment, which, during an asthma attack, can put tremendous strain on my heart. No, the best solution is not to eliminate care, but to find a more cost effective delivery system. Many telemedicine offerings will do the entire “health care dump” for a flat fee. Viva la consumer!!!!
What are CPT codes?
Sunday, February 14th, 2010CPT or Common Procedural Terminology codes are the basis for reimbursement in our medical system and must be understood in order to comprehend the health care debate. Here is a link to a good informational site.
What is Primary Care?
Sunday, February 14th, 2010Primary Care can be considered one of primary healthcare’s core services. I used Barbara Starfield’s definition of primary care. Starfield believes that primary care is the crucial foundation of a healthcare system and defines the key features of primary care as being the first point of entry to a healthcare system, the provider of person-focused care (not disease oriented) over time for all but the most uncommon conditions and the part of the system that integrates or co-ordinates care provided elsewhere or by others. Attached is a White Paper which discusses the great difficulty of bringing Primary Care and Public Health together. The hurdles are staggering.
Past Wall St Journal editorial
Saturday, February 13th, 2010About a month or so back I read an editorial in the Wall St Journal that really shed some light on the health care debate. It was written by a freelance writer in New York and it discussed the impact the bill would have on his personal health decisions. He pointed out that the bill had a mandate to purchase full coverage. For him as a single person in New York the purchase price of a full policy with all of the required coverage would run about $13k per year. Currently, he carried only a catastrophic coverage policy that cost about $2k per year. He figured that left him with $11k per year to cover all of his incidental medical expenses and if he stayed under that limit, he was ahead of the game. He rightly pointed out that this was his health plan, he liked it and that President Obama had repeatedly assured him that if he liked it, he would get to keep it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The bill would force him to join the insurance pool precisely to utilize his $11k to subsidize others who had no insurance. While I was reading this editorial, it occured to me the efficacy of his plan. The AMA created something called Common Procedural Terminology or CPT codes. It has created a procedural based system. Every procedure has a CPT code and reinbursement is based on the code. The codes effectively dictate what is repaid to the physician. The practice of medicine becomes one long list of procedures. The more procedures, the more repayment. Doctor compensation is not results based, it is procedures based.
How do you feel about being your own doctor?
Thursday, February 4th, 2010Sound crazy? Just read an ARTICLE predicting that members of the public will soon be able to use technologies like smart phones to monitor and even treat their own health conditions. I’m not quite ready to make that leap yet but once again this shows how fast this technology and telemedicine are moving. The goal is not to replace doctors but to help them reduce their workloads, free them up to deal with their seriously ill patients and to reduce costs for everyone. Let’s not get carried away with the technology, let’s use it to help our physicians and to reach the millions of uninsured or under insured who have no access. The are many pitfalls to self-treatment as you will see if you read the article. I would love to call myself Doctor but I’d also like to win the Masters. Just isn’t going to happen!
Modernizing health care delivery
Thursday, January 21st, 2010For those that remember Watergate, you may recall the quote from Woodward and Bernstein’s source, Deep Throat: “Follow the money”. Like so many other things in our society, much can be revealed by following the economic trail and motivations that the system provides. Let’s take one simple example.
Perhaps you have had a sore throat before. You call your primary care physician and he can get you an appointment- next Thursday. His calendar is already full, and this makes sense because he is economically enticed to see as many patients as possible during a work day. Your next stop is the Urgent Care center. This avenue is available immediately, but when you arrive, the wait time is 4 hours. They tell you 2 hours at the desk, but we all know how that goes. (more…)
Creative Solutions
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010If companies like Aetna, Humana, United Healthcare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cisco and many more have already stepped up and pledged millions of dollars to advance creative IT healthcare solutions, I would think it is time we listened. With the aging population, fragmented care, a looming primary care physician shortage and a healthcare debate that may never be settled, it will be up to the marketplace to demand change. The most effective solution (a biased opinion no doubt) is to embrace telemedicine in all its forms at all levels. The technology is here and technology is the key. The infrastructure is growing exponentially and the advantages FAR out way any outdated notions about its ability to drive change. We will go kicking and screaming no doubt but we WILL go. The sooner we get on board the better. If you own a company, work in HR or have any say so in the benefits your employees or customers have access to then do your homework. Keep an open mind and realize that we are on the cusp of a changing and far more enlightened and advanced world than we have ever seen. Earth changes, global-warming, global economy… (more…)
Smart Pills
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010I am attaching a link to an article I just read. My first thought was what next? There is a whole telemedicine sub-culture out there that few people are aware of. I spend my days working in this business and watch it happen almost in awe. It is easy for me to see where this is going and the incredible transformation that healthcare is undergoing. This is just the beginning folks! Take a look for yourself: Smart Pills
Remember when…
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010I can’t remember the year but it seems like a lifetime ago when I purchased my first mobile phone. I spent a half day at the car dealer while they installed the phone in my car. It was permanently attached to the center floor board of the car between the driver and the passenger seats with an outside antenna and power box in the trunk. All we could actually do was make a call and recieve one. That was huge. A very exciting day! Now I have a Blackberry that I can hold in the palm of my hand and probably rule the world from. Most of the advances have come in recent years. I think there is a great parallel here with what is happening with technology and.. (more…)