With virtual visits, telemedicine expands reach and care for rural areas of Texas

Health care's reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a major integration of a rise in usage and confidence in telemedicine among the populace. With many of the emergency restrictions and rules ending in May nationwide, there are concerns that this valuable health care tool may go away or have restricted usage.

In December of last year, Congress passed provisions to include a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth and created flexibility for commercial market telehealth. The extension continues telehealth benefits up to Dec. 31, 2024.

According to Texas Tech primary and specialty clinics across West Texas, telemedicine was over three times the usage since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic than there was in the previous 30 years when it was made available to their patients.

According to a news release, these clinics have completed more than 160,000 telehealth visits since the start of the pandemic. Specifically, after launching telemedicine initiatives in 1989, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) completed 50,000 telemedicine consultations between 1990 and April 2020.

Ariel Santos, M.D., MPH, acute care surgeon for Texas Tech Physicians and director of the TTUHSC Telemedicine Program, was part of a group of 16 national health care experts that helped draft a competency based for telemedicine.

“Telemedicine is direct clinical care by a health care provider to a patient at a distance through virtual or electronic means,” Santos said. “Telemedicine, telehealth and digital health are all used interchangeably. However, telehealth is a much broader umbrella including telemedicine and other communications modalities, such as wearable devices and consumer and other health education.”

With the pandemic, Santos said that usage increased greatly. Still, he said with the increase in technology and wearables, the ability to remotely monitor patients makes telemedicine a valuable tool that can be used from pediatrics to geriatrics and is especially useful for patients in remote areas that would have long drives to visit their health care provider. He said that he was pleasantly surprised by the acceptance of the tool from the older population.

“I initially thought this would be a hit only among millennials since they are very equipped digitally. However, a study [by the AARP] showed that even older populations that we thought because of the digital divide would struggle with telemedicine, they love it,” Santos said.

According to TTUHSC, of the 108 counties it serves, 20 have no practicing physicians and 11 have no physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistants, which leaves remote areas with less access to these health care options and a lack of specialty providers.

Santos stressed that while it's not a replacement for health care, it is an important tool to make health care more accessible, especially in cases where a physical examination or in-person tests are not required.

“Telemedicine increases access to health care … you do not have to travel using telemedicine so it is a safe and potentially cost-effective way of getting health care … it improves outcomes,” Santos said.

According to Santos, a great impact on telemedicine's future is a lack of broadband in remote areas. This deficiency could be aided by the state of Texas's commitment to making broadband a priority in remote areas. The state of Texas received more than $360 million in January in federal funds from the Biden Administration to address these issues.

“If we do not have infrastructure like broadband, we will not have telemedicine, so it's very important to have access," Santos said. “It is also very important to educate our providers and students on how they could benefit from telemedicine.”

He encourages all patients to talk with their providers about how telecare could possibly accentuate their health care with a reduction of long drives to see their health care providers in many cases.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Telemedicine expands reach and care for those in rural areas of Texas