Technology and lack of broadband are holding back some seniors.
The Trump administration has loosened restrictions on insurance coverage for telemedicine so doctors’ offices are able to bill for virtual appointments just as they do for office appointments. But some patient advocates worry that barriers still remain for seniors, one of the populations most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Telemedicine helps avoid possibly risky in-person visits, but access to the technology (including smartphones, Wi-Fi, and broadband), the ability to operate the technology, and cognitive or age-related impairment may affect the ability to take advantage of virtual visits.
While 96 percent of American adults use smartphones, almost half of Americans over the age of 65 still don’t have one, and nearly half lack broadband access, according to a Pew Research study conducted last year.
While there are seniors who function fully and are very interested in new technology and pride themselves on keeping up with millennials there are portions of the demographic with cognitive decline and/or physical limitations in assisted living or skilled nursing facilities. This population requires caregivers who also require training in telehealth and remote monitoring.
The entire health ecosystem needs the training to practice 21st Century medicine
“We’re seeing insurers clearing a lot of the barriers out of the way for this, but that last part, making sure that users are able to use the services, that may be the most time-consuming part of this,” said AARP Florida spokesman David Bruns.
Researchers share concerns about the ease of use of some apps.
“Now would be a time to think about how to create technologies that are universally accessible, regardless of age, regardless of socioeconomic status, racial or ethnic background, and also (to think) about those seniors or individuals where English is not their primary language,” said Uchechi Mitchell, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who focuses on racial and ethnic health disparities and aging.
In Florida, where almost 500,000 seniors had limited English proficiency as of 2018, this is even more of a concern.
Mercedes Carnethon, vice chair of the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s medical school, said that without improvements to apps’ interfaces or access to devices such as iPads that enable video visits, patients may resort to phone appointments, but that means doctors lose the ability to check seniors’ energy levels, skin and eye brightness and mobility, for example.
“When we talk about frailty and looking at muscle function, you know, how many chair stands can you do? Well, suddenly, if you have an iPad, you could set that iPad down and you could watch on video, this older adult stand up and sit down unaided, repeatedly, and you could do some of these functional tests and witness them in real time,” she said. “You can’t do that on the phone.”
“When we talk about frailty and looking at muscle function, you know, how many chair stands can you do? Well, suddenly, if you have an iPad, you could set that iPad down and you could watch on video, this older adult stand up and sit down unaided, repeatedly, and you could do some of these functional tests and witness them in real time,” she said. “You can’t do that on the phone.”
Carnethon added that telehealth may help to eliminate race-based disparities in health outcomes for seniors, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and COVID-19, by making it easier for doctors to monitor patients’ symptoms from home.
In practice, however, Florida-based doctors and patients have faced roadblocks in implementing the technology. Dr. Mark Moseley, chief clinical officer at USF Health in Tampa, said that while USF was able to set up a telehealth infrastructure within a week in March, it has conducted only about 60,000 telehealth appointments, out of the approximately 85,000 scheduled since then.
“What we learned pretty early on is that we had to call before their appointment,” he said. He said that staff would learn on these calls that some seniors lacked reliable internet access, devices or technical knowledge to set up a video appointment, so follow-up visits would be converted to phone calls.
The process requires an intermediary, someone on site who sets up the calls.
There are intermediaries that also fulfill this function, independently or part of a portal, health information exchange, such as Reunion Care.
The process requires an intermediary, someone on site who sets up the calls.
There are intermediaries that also fulfill this function, independently or part of a portal, health information exchange, such as Reunion Care.
Lawmakers cleared the way for telemedicine, but seniors need access, training
No comments:
Post a Comment