Telemedicine is here to stay, even after COVID-19

COVID-19 changed how we did a lot of things, even how we get health care. During the pandemic, telemedicine became an easy way for patients to consult with their doctor without ever leaving their homes and now, it’s not going anywhere. Dr. Ross Goldberg, President of the Arizona Medical Association, spoke with Horizon host Ted Simons about what this could mean for the health field.

“Telehealth was always kind of in the background for a long time. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of it. Now, I think it got a lot more press because of the pandemic, for obvious reasons, we had to deliver care from, again… not being face to face, and realized there is some benefits at times to use telehealth,” Goldberg said.

When thinking about the best option for doctors and patients to use telemedicine, “it just depends on your specialty and what you need to do….it doesn’t mean you can skip say you’re getting your immunizations or vaccines or coming into your annual physical, but it really will be an interesting integration depending on what specialty you’re in, on how you can utilize this. Behavioral Health is a great example of how this has really been beneficial to make sure people follow up with treatments who can’t physically make it to their appointments,” Goldberg said.

Some may be concerned about the quality of care telemedicine provides in comparison to face to face and, “there’s been a large push in standards being put out there to make sure we preserve that quality. I would push back saying people have been more successful….We’ve been doing this for a while. They do have quality metrics that do work and do stand up. Even in the surgical world like myself as a surgeon. I know surgeons who are utilizing this and they’re finding it quite beneficial to provide some patient care,” Goldberg said.