Telemedicine Offers Orthopaedic Patients The Best In Class
Take a step back and consider how far we’ve come. Now in the final month of one of the most challenging years in recent memory, 2020 has become synonymous with uncertainty, pain, suffering, and tragedy.
The mental and physical isolation thrust upon us this year has given us ample time to reflect. Social distancing, not togetherness, has come to embody the reality of our present day civilization. It has become abundantly clear what aspects of pre-pandemic life we may have taken for granted – and what elements simply need to evolve.
Even for someone already spending 80 hours a week in the hospital, I found myself rekindling a deep sense of gratitude for the people I regularly work alongside: fellow physicians, therapists, nurses, technicians, custodians, case managers, and advanced practice providers. This feeling was further compounded as I watched our leading medical experts work tirelessly to deploy a vaccine, navigate uncertainty, and deliver the same bad news day after day to a nation struggling with this radical adjustment. In an era where misinformation seems rampant, I found myself regaining appreciation for expertise and our “healthcare heroes” who possess it.
While it’s no secret that navigating the infrastructure of the American healthcare system leaves much to be desired, it is also known that we possess some of the brightest minds and best resources in the world. But what’s the point of world class expertise if we can’t access it? Medicine has historically been slow to adopt new technologies, but the pandemic has serendipitously forced our hand. The due date for the long anticipated birth of telemedicine has finally arrived, and the utilization of these “virtual visits” have never been higher across several hospital systems. In February of 2020 immediately prior to the pandemic, 0.1% of Medicare primary care visits were performed over telemedicine compared to 43.5% in April. Between February and July of 2020, the number of beneficiaries receiving telemedicine rose from 14,000 a week to over 631,000.
Adoption of telemedicine was bolstered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) Office for Civil Rights in response to the pandemic. First, waiver authority under section 1135 of the Social Security Act was used to lift geographic restrictions, enabling telemedicine services to be rendered wherever a beneficiary was located, including a home or nursing facility site. CMS subsequently used emergency rulemaking to add 135 services to the Medicare telehealth services list. Finally, the HHS Office for Civil Rights announced it would not impose Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) penalties on covered health care providers for HIPAA violations in connection with the good faith delivery of telehealth using non-public facing technologies, such as Zoom and AppleAAPL -0.8% Facetime.
Some, however, remain obstinate that medicine cannot be practiced through a screen. Laying hands on the patient has been indoctrinated as an essential element of the physical exam, but a network of expert orthopaedic surgeons, who have come together to form BICMD (“Best in Class Medical Doctors”), feel differently. Given the need for distancing, time wasted with transportation, and bodily pain experienced by these injured or debilitated patients, orthopaedic surgery is primed for a comprehensive telehealth product.
While traditional telemedicine offerings route patients to a general practitioner prior to a potential orthopaedic referral, the BICMD platform connects the patient to a nationally recognized surgeon tailored to his or her musculoskeletal condition over a secure videoconferencing and medical record review platform. Using an algorithm accounting for pedigree, experience, and reputation, only 1% of orthopaedic surgeons are accepted into the BICMD network. Accessing an expert today within any given hospital system or insurance network can be confusing, but the BICMD platform reduces the barriers to addressing an acute condition or acquiring a second opinion by filling the pre-pandemic gap between orthopaedic expertise and patient access.
Adoption of telemedicine has been the buoy that has allowed us to keep in touch with our patients during a global pandemic. From this experience, we have delivered our most convenient and patient-centered experience yet – while also challenging dogma that high quality care cannot be performed remotely. More importantly, our best doctors are finally demonstrating willingness to embrace telemedicine. When we do eventually return to life as we once knew it, telemedicine may be the core feature nature has selected to endure as we evolve our delivery of healthcare into the post-pandemic era that better bridges the gap between patients and accessible, world class care.
You can read the original article by Dr. Prem Ramkumar on Forbes Magazine online:
