For far too long, telehealth has been touted as a future miracle that’s just out of reach. So it’s significant that the theme of a recent U.S. News Hospital of Tomorrow conference was “Telehealth Isn’t The Future – It’s Changing Care Now.”
From beginning to end, the conference highlighted what telehealth is doing in the present: improving care, lowering costs, reducing hospital readmissions and much more.
You don’t need to be H.G. Wells to realize that most Americans are perfectly comfortable getting technology-enabled remote medical treatment. But what is surprising is the scope of what’s already being done nationwide. For example, you don’t automatically think of ophthalmology as a prime candidate for telehealth. But conference speaker Dr. Julia Haller chronicled how Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia is using remote home monitoring for patients at the highest risk for the progression of blindness.
Another present-day achievement is how telehealth is transforming the rules of engagement. It’s knocking down the barriers that have long existed between doctor and patient. At the conference, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center telemedicine director Dr. Andrew Watson discussed how today’s patient portals are bringing new spontaneity to physician-patient communication – something not seen since the heyday of house calls.
The recent Disney movie Tomorrowland was only modestly successful at the box office. Maybe what we really need is a movie called Present World – one that celebrates what telehealth is achieving in the here-and-now.
Telehealth Today
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