NewsWire: 1/6/21
- The pandemic has greatly accelerated the use of telemedicine, which surged 6X in America from January to June alone. Tech giants, startups, pharmacies, and hospitals are all scrambling to make their mark in the industry, which encompasses a wide range of services and new devices. (The Economist)
- NH: Before the pandemic began, less than 1% of medical appointments were virtual. Since March, telemedicine has soared. In May 2020, the share of virtual medical visits hit a high of 37% of all appointments. By August, the percentage had shrunk to 15%, but that is still way above the pre-Covid-19 baseline.
- The boom in telemedicine is evident in the stocks of many "health care anywhere" companies. Teladoc Health (TDOC), despite being slightly down over the last three months, has seen its ticker price rise by over 130% YoY. The price of iRhythm Technologies (IRTC), specializing in devices for doctors to remotely monitor their patients, is up by over 230% YoY.
- The biggest immediate driver in the rise of telemedicine has been safety. Talking to your doctor over Zoom eliminates the possibility of spreading Covid-19. But online medicine boasts several other advantages that aren't about to go away with the pandemic.
- First, it is more convenient. Patients no longer have to take time off from work, drive to the doctor’s office, and endlessly wait in the lobby. From the comfort of their home, they are done after a five-minute Zoom call. Many telemedicine providers also offer 24-hour service, allowing patients to escape the standard nine-to-five window.
- Second, telehealth is a good generational match for Boomers and Xers, who often grab medical information from many sources and don't mind entering a transactional relationship with a GP. Boomers appreciate the informality and independence of getting advice where they are, not where the doctor is. For Xers, telehealth means self-sufficiency. As Xers juggle the responsibilities of parenthood and work, telehealth rolls with their lives, not the other way around. (See “Coming Soon: Health Care Anywhere.”)
- But what about each patient's fabled personal connection to his or her doctor? Won't that suffer? A few years ago, I put that question to Teladoc's CEO Jason Gorevic after I heard him defend his company's master plan. His answer: What personal connection? Most GPs hardly look at the patient in their office while they input all the patient's metrics into their data system.
- Today, the GP's job is basically to assess these metrics and to decide whether they merit directing the patient to this or that specialist according to well-established protocols. It's no longer a glamorous job, and as it becomes depersonalized it no longer generates the same social prestige that "personal" docs once enjoyed. Already, many states are allowing some of these functions to be taken over by NPs or PAs. And it's only a matter of time before the GP's switchboard role can be, in most cases, filled just as well by a good AI app.
- Indeed, telemedicine sees its main logistical hurdle to be not so much replicating a "personal experience" as simply finding ways to get the patients' metrics to the online doctor. Thanks to app-connected home-health devices plus ubiquitous, efficient, and fast-turnaround blood test labs, that usually isn't a problem.
- Gorevic is basically right. Most doctors today see themselves more as health technicians than as personal advisors. I can't say I think this is a good thing. Quite often, it reflects the costly and dysfunctional way in which specialist protocols have taken over American healthcare--and it blinds patients to the lifestyle causes of most of their chronic maladies. (For my rant on this topic, see "1/3 of U.S. Healthcare Spending Goes to Paperwork.") But it is a fact.
- Bottomline is this. If you want an ever-loyal friend, get a dog. And if you want to see someone who is trained to get to know you, assess your wellness, and talk honestly to you, go see a CAM professional trained in homeopathy, naturopathy, ayurveda, TCM, or any other form of integrative medicine. Or just go hire a good guru or life coach. This may do more for your health than an MD. But in any case, each is designed to serve a very different function.
- So IMO, yes, telemedicine is indeed the wave of the future. All the pandemic did is to accelerate a trend that was already bound to reshape our lives.
