Modern medicine is about to become more modern and more convenient for many Michiana patients, thanks to telemedicine.
Today, South Bend-based Beacon Health System launches its live, secure video visits program to meet urgent care needs of patients with minor symptoms and ailments.
With a cost of $49 without insurance a fraction of the cost of a face-to-face urgent care center visit, consumers can get medical attention for certain illnesses without traveling, spending time in a waiting room, or taking time off work.
All that would be needed is a computer with a camera, and an internet connection. Android and Apple smartphone users will need to download a free app from either Google Play or the Apple Store. Laptop, tablet and desktop users will visit www.beaconhealthsystem.org/connect. Patients can then be walked through the experience online.
Beacon will have physicians, licensed in Indiana and Michigan, available 24/7 for this new service. Among the numerous medical problems appropriate for a video visit are cold and flu symptoms, eye infections, urinary tract infections, minor sprains, and low back pain.
The doctor determines whether in-person medical appointment is needed instead. If necessary during the video visit, the doctor can prescribe medication — non-controlled substances and have the prescription sent to the pharmacy of the patient’s choice.
“It is in no way, shape, or form going to replace traditional medicine and necessary in-person doctor visits. But it will augment patient care quite a bit, I think — especially with people wanting quality and convenient care,” Dr. Mark Schmeltz, a Beacon Medical Group family medicine physician in Granger, said of telemedicine.
Schmeltz said the video visits will have the same level of confidentiality as in-person visits.
Beacon joins several other area health care providers on both sides of the state border which are offering telemedicine and nontraditional options to care for patients with routine or relatively minor ailments.
Right now, those options have been in different forms, varying among health care provider networks. Cost of these non-traditional visits generally range between $35 and $49. Insurance could cover some or all of the fees in the future.
Consumers interested in telemedicine and video visits may want to explore it before they need care so they know how the program works, which health providers offer it, and the fee for service.
A law passed earlier this year and enacted July 1 made it legal for medical authorities to prescribe medications without an in-person, face-to-face encounter. The law defines telemedicine as the delivery of health care services using electronic communications and information technology — such as secure videoconferencing — between a provider in one location and a patient in another location.
“Indiana is one of the last states to adopt this favorable law. Telemedicine is an emerging use of technology. But it’s pretty well established in other parts of the country,” Schmeltz said.
As technology takes off, so will telemedicine, Schmeltz predicted, noting that technology already exists for taking some patient vitals remotely using monitoring devices sent to patients in advance of the video-visit appointment.
Data for vitals, such as weight and blood pressure, would upload automatically through Bluetooth technology so the care provider can access it. Use of such technology may come later for Beacon, Schmeltz said.
Beacon may also consider adding nutritional services and behavioral health services to this telemedicine platform — and possibly later, scheduled follow-up visits. Home care is another area where Beacon may use telemedicine, Schmeltz said.
While traditional, face-to-face medical visits won’t be phased out in the foreseeable future, telemedicine will continue to play an “increasingly important role in the care of patients,” said Doug Leonard, president of the Indiana Hospital Association.
“Patients are seeking convenience and access to physicians and health care providers, and there are a number of ways this is being provided through telemedicine,” he said. “People are more increasingly accustomed to one-click delivery of goods and services. Medicine is starting to catch up with that demand for more of a one-click kind of delivery of services.”
Since October 2016, established patients of Southwestern Medical Clinics in Bridgman, Niles and Stevensville, as well as Staggs Medical Center in Hartford, Mich., have been able to consult with a doctor via messaging using their online account on Lakeland Health System’s electronic patient access portal, MyChart. Once logged into MyChart, account holders select “Get Medical Advice” under the messaging tab.
This patient care option, dubbed by Lakeland as “Telehealth e-visits,” is currently for low-intensity ailments and symptoms, such as back pain, eye infections, cough, heartburn, fatigue, sinusitis, diarrhea, diaper rash, and head lice. E-visits are available during business hours, Monday through Friday.
There is a $35 charge to the patient for the e-visit. But the patient won’t be charged if it is determined that a face-to-face medical visit is necessary, said Dr. Chris Harvey, a pediatrician at Southwestern Medical Clinic and medical director for Lakeland Medical Practices.
At this point, E-visit is a pilot program and is not available through all providers within Lakeland Medical Practices, according to Harvey. The program is only for those patients with an established relationship with one of the health care providers participating in this pilot program.
E-visits initiated before noon during the week can get a response within a few hours or sooner, depending on the workload and other variables at the medical practice. E-visits initiated after noon can get a response at least by the next business day, Harvey said.
Lakeland hopes to launch its pilot program for live video visits in spring 2017, and would like to eventually make telemedicine services available beyond Monday through Friday, Harvey also said.
At Saint Joseph Health System, telemedicine is used to provide a bedside consultation, for acute stroke patients, with academic medical center stroke experts. Saint Joseph is aligned with its sister hospital in Chicago, Loyola University Medical Center, for stroke cases.
“SJHS also provides, and is evaluating the expansion of, telemedicine consults in rural areas where there is a shortage of key sub-specialties such as neurology,” said Pamela Henderson, chief strategy and marketing officer of Saint Joseph Health System, Indiana.
Saint Joseph has also been eyeing the possibility of using telemedicine in some form for routine primary care needs.
Goshen Health System also has been incorporating technology into its patient care. For many years now, Goshen has used telehealth options within its home care and high-risk programs. Goshen Health’s videoconferencing is between patients and nurses or other health care providers — except for doctors and those who can prescribe medication.
Videoconferencing between patients and primary care physicians may be an added feature in the future, according to Mary Kay Delneky, nurse and director of care coordination at Goshen Healthcare Hospice.
Because videoconferencing is part of care already being given as part of home health care or high-risk patient programs, there is no extra charge to Goshen Health’s patients for those services, Delneky explained.
Josi DeHaven, manager for ambulatory care coordination with Goshen Health System, shared a story about how a videoconference helped a patient with a breathing problem who struggled with smoking cessation.
“The patient had major transportation barriers. We were able to get a smoking cessation specialist to do a session with her over video, and it really helped her to a point where she quit smoking,” DeHaven said. “In this patient’s case, this would not have happened using traditional methods.”
Date: January 01, 2017