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FAQ

The following questions were answered by a Premiere Telemedicine on-staff physician...

What is the current market size or potential market for telemedicine?

It’s already a huge market and future growth is potentially exponential because there are many people that appreciate the convenience and economy of telemedicine, particularly if they are uninsured. Additionally, there are many others living in remote locations such as: Alaska; Montana; the Dakotas; and less populated regions of Canada as just a few examples. People who live in rural or remote regions may easily communicate via videoconference with a medical professional instead of traveling several hours to get to a doctor or healthcare facility.

For non-critical, periodic care such as check-ups, telemedicine is a great alternative, augmenting traditional forms of care. If an individual has an emergency, an accident, or requires urgent or critical care, for whatever reason, then obviously they need urgent medical attention in the traditional fashion. However, for many acute common illnesses and ailments such as a cold and certain chronic conditions, it is often much easier and just as efficacious to receive care via the Internet rather than traveling great distances.

Is telemedicine experiencing increased acceptance?

Definitely. Although there has been some resistance to telemedicine over the years, mostly from bureaucrats, many healthcare providers and other entities are now realizing the absolute necessity of telemedicine and the fact that, under appropriate conditions, the safety and accuracy of treating people remotely is virtually the same as with traditional medicine. Many are finally accepting the advent of older 20th-century technology as the rest of us are well into the techniques offered by the 21st century. For serious conditions, such as cardiopulmonary disease, for instance, patients must see a physician face-to-face. For periodic evaluations, such as in between office visits, it may be a great advantage not to have to visit a doctor’s office every week or month.

Recently, telemedicine has become more accepted. Many government agencies and the military, in particular, are very fond of telemedicine. The military is, presently, the largest entity to utilize and quite frequently the leader, regarding telemedicine. This posture has saved the military a huge amount of money. The growth of telemedicine is basically being driven by patients looking for convenience and cost savings. Many of these people are not insured and they wish to receive healthcare while enjoying the economic benefits of telemedicine. And now some insurance companies are actually realizing the economic advantages as well.

Most recently in tests conducted in association with the Mayo Clinic, state and health agencies, it was determined that patients seeking assistance for erectile dysfunction received comparable advice through a non face to face traditional physician visit. In the comparison there was no difference in the prescribing solutions and results. There was no difference in the safety issues between face to face and remote medical assessment.

Where might telemedicine have the greatest impact in the future?

People who suffer from relatively stable, slowly progressive, chronic conditions, such as hypertension or arthritis, as typical examples, may benefit from more frequent check-ups and follow-up care utilizing telemedicine. Potentially, thousands of patients who suffer from chronic conditions may not have to go to the doctor’s office as often. Many patients living with more serious conditions may still require frequent blood tests and/or doctor visits. For others with less serious disease, telemedicine will certainly alleviate much of the stress and time patients spend trying to obtain adequate care. Just imagine not having to wait several weeks for an appointment and then an hour or more to see a physician for a routine follow-up check.

In addition, much of telemedicine goes hand-in-hand with home-health care. Many people may be monitored remotely with less frequent follow-up by healthcare providers as determined by their primary care physician. They may take their own vital signs, such as blood pressure or blood glucose levels with diagnostic equipment provided by their healthcare professional and that information may be transmitted either directly from the unit itself or the unit may be connected to a website via the internet. In that fashion, doctors are able to gain much larger sets of data in order to “fill in the curve,” so to speak. This ability for greater sampling yields a much clearer image of the condition and therefore much better diagnosis and treatment.