| | December 20218UTLOOKHealthcare Tech IN MY OPINIONBy Morgan L. Waller, Director of Telemedicine Business & Operations, Children's Mercy Kansas CityTelemedicine & The Hospital Org ChartIf you haven't had your own healthcare appointments via a computer or phone in the last six months, telemedicine (TM) or telehealth is the delivery method of choice for healthcare when patient and provider are not physically together. At minimum provider and patient need text or audio/voice. However, what amazing complex care can be achieved using high definition video with a Blue Yeti® microphone or similar, Bose®700 headphones or similar and digital ancillary exam devices that can capture images not able to be seen by the human eye! The technology exists and has for years. So, why did it take a pandemic to introduce the concept of FaceTime® healthcare to patients/consumers? Prior to COVID, use of TM was like that of electronic health records in the first decade of the 21st century, only without a government mandate to make it happen. On the contrary, government TM regulations have been, bar none, the greatest barrier to contemporary healthcare access because of their limitations on:· Types of providers eligible for reimbursement· Qualifying delivery and access location types· Geography· Proprietary state medical licenses versus highly mobile patients· Arbitrary metropolitan area exclusions· County health professional shortage designations· County medically underserved designations · Types of care/current procedural terminology codesIn addition to the aforementioned barriers, healthcare is in an uncomfortable and challenging place between the reality of reimbursement, which is still largely dependent on fee-for-service care, and the presentation of new value-based care opportunities that involve virtual/remote technologies but don't have the same return on investment or short-Morgan L. Waller
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