The Arizona Telemedicine Program Blog, Category: mHealth

Teledentistry is the union of dentistry and telehealth (or telemedicine).  The state of the union is very strong.

The Telehealth industry is booming.  The Covid-19 virus changed everything.  Research by McKinsey & Company reveals that while only 11 percent of consumers used telehealth in 2019, 46 percent were using these remote services by May of 2020 to replace canceled office visits. ^[1]  McKinsey went further to predict that the telehealth industry could grow to a quarter of a trillion dollars. ⁽²⁾  Telehealth investment, according to the Mercom Capital group venture finding in digital health in 2020 came to $14.8 billion. ³  Telemedicine was the top funded category and led Venture Capital funding activity with $4.3 billion, a 139% Year-Over-Year increase compared to $1.8 billion in 2019.

The global surge in coronavirus cases in early 2020 caused an almost overnight disruption to clinical services. A solution for continuing critical clinical care of all patients alongside the need to minimize human-to-human contact had to be found quickly.

In April, Mediclinic Middle East rolled out its coordinated telemedicine service. This allowed patients who would typically attend one of our units in person to access assistance from the comfort and safety of their homes. This is how it’s worked out so far...

What does the term “social distancing” really mean? Do we really want to be socially distant? The phrase and concept of "social distance" existed before 2020, however during the past year it may have morphed permanently into a verb in its current context.  The definitions listed @ dictionary.com explain the difference  and make me wonder if we have been promoting social distance with  the term “Social Distancing”.  I don’t believe we are using the term correctly.  This is not what we should be encouraging ourselves to do! We can’t even hug as much as we used to so let’s not go overboard with refraining from the social interaction we all crave right now.   Branding is everything – and unfortunately, we have a term branded to mean that we should “disengage” – be socially distant – as opposed to physically distant.

I think we all know by now that the pandemic has led to a dramatic surge in the use of telehealth. In Arizona, that was partly thanks to several executive orders our governor signed in March and April of 2020 expanding telehealth coverage and flexibilities for the duration of the public health emergency. (Scroll to Executive Orders 2020-07, 2020-15, and 2020-29.)

Telemedicine and the technologies that provide the service delivery have swiftly become the essential, everyday apparatus keeping the US healthcare system afloat in 2020. Patients have adapted well to the rapid switch to teleconferencing appointments and assessments with their general practitioner.

HIPAA compliance is difficult to achieve under normal circumstances but during a global pandemic, healthcare institutions have faced an uphill struggle. As hospitals, practices, and clinics closed, a seismic shift towards telemedicine was embarked upon. For many healthcare entities, this was something completely new, for others it was a simple change of routine.