Telemedicine in a Post-Pandemic World: Joe Rotella, Brook Calton, Carly Zapata
There\u2019s a saying, \u201cnever let a crisis go to waste.\u201d\xa0 The pandemic was horrific in many ways.\xa0 One positive change that came about was the lifting of restrictions around the use of telemedicine.\xa0 Clinicians could care for patients across state lines, could prescribe opioids without in person visits, could bill at higher rates for telemedicine than previous to the pandemic.\xa0 Many patients benefited, not only those isolating due to covid, but also patients in rural areas, patients who are homebound, and many others.\xa0 So now that the emergency response has ended, what\u2019s to be done?\xa0
In this podcast, Joe Rotella, Chief Medical Officer of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Brook Calton, Palliative Care doc at Massachusetts General Hospital and Medical Director at Devoted Health, and Carly Zapata, Palliative Care doc at UCSF and fellowship director, talk about the importance of maintaining access to telehealth for the good of patients with serious illness.\xa0 This DEA is taking 6-months to consider how to move forward vis a vis restrictions and requirements for telehealth in a post-pandemic world.\xa0 Now is the time to act, dear listeners!\xa0 You can:
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Write an Op-Ed to your local paper as Carly Zapata and colleagues did.\xa0 Start with a story as Carly did in her Op Ed.\xa0 Stories trump data.
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Write to your congressperson. See the AAHPM Legislative Action Center https://www.votervoice.net/AAHPMORG/home
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Write to the DEA, with guidance from AAHPM\u2019s comments to the DEA March 2023.
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Advocate for the CONNECT for Health Act, which would permanently expand access to telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries: https://www.schatz.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/connect_for_health_act_2023_summary1.pdf
Much more on this podcast, including puzzling out who the characters in Space Oddity by David Bowie might represent in an extended analogy to telehealth.\xa0 Enjoy!
-@AlexSmithMD